If you’ve suffered knee injuries from a car accident, you might have pain, swelling, or trouble walking.
Car accidents can strain the knees excessively, leading to injuries that may require medical attention.
Knowing what types of injuries are common can help you recognize symptoms and seek care.
Knee injuries can impact mobility, daily routines, and your ability to work.
At Bensinger Legal Services, our Ohio auto accident attorneys help clients hold insurance companies accountable so they can recover the costs of their care and lost income.
To schedule a free consultation, call (419) 455-1410 or contact us online today.
Key Takeaways
What a Knee Injury Claim Depends On After a Car Accident
Beyond knowing the 6 common knee injuries from car accidents, it helps to understand what actually shapes a claim once you’ve been diagnosed. Here’s what matters most as you move forward.
- Symptoms don’t always show up right away. Stiffness, swelling, and knee pain can take hours or days to appear after a crash, and insurers often undervalue claims when treatment doesn’t start until after that delay.
- Not every knee injury needs surgery, but some do. Treatment ranges from bracing and physical therapy for a milder sprain to arthroscopic or reconstructive surgery for a torn ligament or meniscus, and the type of treatment affects both recovery time and claim value.
- Ohio’s comparative negligence rule still applies to knee injury claims. You can recover compensation as long as you’re found less than 50% at fault, though your share of fault reduces what you can collect.
- Long recovery periods can mean real time away from work and daily life. Ligament and cartilage injuries in particular can involve extended immobility, which is worth documenting alongside medical bills and physical therapy costs.
Common Knee Injuries from a Car Accident
The forces involved in car accidents can strain the knee in multiple ways. Knees might hit the dashboard, steering wheel, or another hard surface during impact or twist unnaturally due to sudden movements.
Struggling To Climb Stairs Or Stand For Long Periods? That’s Worth Taking Seriously.
A knee injury can make basic movement, like walking, driving, or climbing stairs, exhausting and painful. You don’t have to just manage it quietly while you wait to see how it plays out. Let’s talk about what happened and what your options look like, at no cost to you.
Schedule A Free ConsultationBelow are some of the most common knee injuries from car accidents and what to know about each.
1. Patellar Fractures
The kneecap, or patella, often takes the brunt of a direct blow during a crash.
A fracture in this small but critical bone can cause:
- Pain,
- Swelling, and
- Difficulty moving or straightening the leg.
Treatment for a patellar fracture may include a brace, physical therapy, or surgery in more severe cases to repair the damage.
2. Ligament Tears
The knee relies on ligaments to maintain stability and control movement. Sudden twists or impacts can cause these ligaments to stretch or tear during an accident.
Common ligament injuries include:
- ACL tears. Often caused by twisting or a sharp change in direction, these injuries can make the knee unstable.
- PCL tears. These happen in “dashboard injuries,” where the knee is bent and forcefully pressed against the dashboard.
- MCL and LCL tears. Side-impact accidents frequently cause these injuries, leading to difficulty with side-to-side movements.
Knee ligament injuries can be debilitating and often necessitate long recovery periods of immobility.
3. Meniscus Tears
The meniscus, a cushion of cartilage between the bones in your knee, absorbs shock and helps keep the joint stable.
A meniscus tear often occurs when the knee twists unnaturally or is compressed during a collision. Symptoms include:
- Swelling,
- Locking or catching in the joint, and
- Pain during movement.
Treatment may involve rest, physical therapy, or arthroscopic surgery to remove or repair the damaged tissue.
Have Questions About Your Car Accident Knee Injury? Contact Us
4. Dislocations
A dislocated knee occurs when the bones in the joint are forced out of alignment. This serious injury often damages ligaments, blood vessels, and nerves.
Symptoms of a dislocation include:
- Severe pain,
- Swelling, and
- Visible deformity.
Immediate care is required to realign the joint and address any additional injuries.
5. Tendon Injuries
Tendons in the knee can stretch or tear when subjected to extreme force, such as during a car accident.
Common symptoms include:
- Pain near the kneecap,
- Swelling, and
- Weakness or inability to straighten the leg.
Treatment for tendon injuries often includes physical therapy, but severe cases may need surgical repair.
6. Bursitis
Bursitis occurs when the bursae, tiny fluid-filled sacs in the knee, become inflamed after trauma.
Symptoms include:
- Tenderness or swelling,
- Pain that increases with movement, and
- Redness or warmth around the joint.
Rest and anti-inflammatory medications are common treatments, though persistent cases may require further care.
Symptoms of Knee Injuries
Not all knee injuries present symptoms right away. Pain or discomfort may develop hours or even days after the accident.
Watch for signs such as:
- Swelling,
- Stiffness,
- Bruising,
- Clicking or popping sensations, or
- Difficulty walking or bearing weight.
Promptly seeking medical care is important, as delayed knee pain after a car accident can signal an injury that might worsen without treatment. Early evaluation can help address the issue and create a medical record that could be useful if you pursue a legal claim.
How a Lawyer Can Help After a Knee Injury
Knee injuries from car accidents often come with significant medical costs and time away from work. Ohio’s modified comparative negligence law allows you to seek compensation if you are less than 50% at fault for the accident.
This compensation can include medical bills, physical therapy, lost wages, and even future care if the injury affects your ability to work or maintain your daily activities.
Attorney Aaron Bensinger and his team have helped clients across Northwest Ohio recover financially after serious car accidents.
When it comes to knee injuries, we know that insurers often undervalue claims, especially when symptoms like stiffness, swelling, or knee pain after a car accident don’t appear immediately.
That’s why we work to prove the full extent of your injury and its long-term effects on your health and livelihood.
Symptoms Showed Up Days Later? That Doesn’t Make Your Injury Any Less Real.
Knee pain, swelling, and stiffness don’t always appear right after a crash, and insurers sometimes use that delay against you. Whether your symptoms started right away or a few days later, it’s worth having someone look at what actually happened.
Schedule A Free ConsultationSchedule a Free Consultation Today
Recovering from a knee injury from a car accident takes time, but seeking legal help doesn’t have to be complicated. Bensinger Legal Services has helped clients throughout Northwest Ohio handle these claims, ensuring they receive compensation that reflects the full impact of their injury.
Call (419) 455-1410 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation. Let’s talk about how we can assist you.
Knee Injury Questions After a Car Accident
The most common are patellar fractures, ligament tears such as an ACL or MCL tear, meniscus tears, dislocations, tendon injuries, and bursitis. Severity ranges widely, from bursitis that responds to rest and anti-inflammatory medication to a ligament tear that may require surgery.
Insurers often point to a delay between the accident and the first sign of symptoms like stiffness, swelling, or pain as a reason to question the claim. Because knee injury symptoms can take hours or days to appear, getting evaluated quickly and documenting the connection to the crash helps protect the value of your claim.
Not necessarily. Treatment depends on the type and severity of the injury, ranging from bracing and physical therapy for a milder sprain to arthroscopic or reconstructive surgery for a torn ligament or meniscus. A doctor’s evaluation is the only way to know which approach your injury needs.
A longer recovery generally increases the value of a claim, since it often means more medical treatment, more physical therapy, and more time away from work. Ohio’s comparative negligence rule still applies, so you can recover compensation as long as you are found less than 50% at fault.
Aaron L. Bensinger is an Ohio attorney serving personal injury and civil litigation clients. He has extensive trial experience and makes client service is his primary focus. As a partner at Balyeat, Leahy, Daley, Miller & Bensinger, LLC, Aaron happily works in Lima, OH, and serves the entire Northwest region of the state and beyond.
Loading...