Foot Injuries Caused in Slip and Fall Accidents

The foot and ankle are often overlooked when it comes to fall injuries, yet the foot and lower leg is one of the most common injury sites in slip and falls. Head, back, wrist, and neck injuries often occur in conjunction with foot and lower leg injuries, which can take longer to heal and often fail to return to their previous pre-injury condition, particularly when they are not given the immediate medical treatment and attention needed. Because the foot is one of the hardest body parts to fully immobilized—even when placed in a soft or hard cast/brace, pressure is still applied to the foot and lower leg—the ligaments, cartilage, small muscles, and bones within this body region are very slow, and resistant, to heal. Do not underestimate the severity of a foot or lower leg injury caused in a slip and fall. These types of injuries require careful monitoring and often months of physical therapy, surgery, and rehabilitation that devalues the victim’s quality of life, reduces their ability to earn and income, and diminishes their ability to perform family and household duties. An experienced Naples slip and fall foot injury specialist attorney can help you get the full picture of how much your claim is worth, and help you recover that compensation to repair the physical, emotional, and monetary damage that has been done to your life.

Common Types of Foot Injuries in Slip and Falls

• Strained Ankle—An injury to the muscles within the ankle, or an injury to a band of tissue that attaches muscle to bone is injured, according to the Mayo Clinic. Strained or “rolled” ankles can take months to recover from.
• Sprained Ankle—The ligaments or band of tissue connecting two bones together within the ankle is injured. There are three grades of sprained ankle, with the first being a stretched ligament, the second being a partial tear in the ligament, and the third grade of sprained ankle being a full tear, according to WebMD. Recovering from a sprained ankle can take even longer than recovering from a broken ankle in some cases.
• Broken Ankle—One or more bones in the ankle are fractured. The severity of a broken ankle depends on the specific bones that break, the location of the breaks, and the number of fractured bones. Surgery is required to fix broken ankle bones.
• Torn Achilles Tendon—Achilis tendon at the back of the lower leg is torn, which requires surgery and an extensive recovery period to heal.
• Lisfranc (Midfoot) Fracture—The bone or bones within the midfoot are fractured. This type of fracture, when involving multiple or many bones, is very complicated to recover from, and very painful.
• Dislocated Toe—Bones are pulled out from their joints, causing torn ligaments and extreme pain.
• Crush Injury—Various bones in the foot are fractured due to an object crushing the foot or lower leg.
• Lacerations—Despite wearing shoes, you can still receive severe lacerations to the foot and lower legs during a slip, trip, and fall.
• Puncture Wound—Stepping on a nail, spike, shard of glass, or other penetrating object can result in a puncture wound of the foot, causing soft tissue laceration, fractured bones, and lacerated tendons.

Chronic Pain, Lack of Mobility, and Other Complications Down the Road

Once the brace or cast comes off, or physical therapy or surgery have been completed, victims of lower leg and foot injuries may feel okay for a few months or year, or even decades, but the long-term consequences of a serious foot injury eventually rear their heads. Painful bone spurs may form, cartilage that was damaged may eventually be worn away fully, tendons that were stretched and micro-torn may become weak and too loose to hold the foot in place, causing injuries and chronic pain further up in the body. There is no telling what type of complications, or the severity of those complications, you may have to deal with in five to twenty years from now, which is why it is crucial to maximize your personal injury claim now. If you realize in five years that your pain and immobility is far greater than you originally thought, it will be too late to seek additional compensation for your damages.

Call an Experienced Naples Slip and Fall Foot Injury Attorney Today

No matter the type of foot or leg injury you have suffered, an experienced Naples personal injury attorney can help you recover the appropriate compensation for your extensive damages. Do not let a business owner, property owner, or insurance adjuster talk you out of fair compensation, call the Naples slip and fall attorneys at The Law Offices of Marc L. Shapiro, P.A. for professional legal counsel at 239-500-5000 to schedule a free consultation today.