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We often help people who suffered a broken wrist in a Virginia Beach car accident. Typically, they endure considerable pain and face high medical expenses. They want to know if they can make a claim against the driver who hit them.
If another driver was to blame for a crash, you likely will have grounds to file a claim against the at-fault driver. It makes sense to consult our experienced Virginia Beach accident lawyers.
Hand and wrist injuries are not always associated with automobile, motorcycle, and truck accidents but they are common injuries. A broken wrist may vary in severity.
There are many different ways your hands and wrists can be damaged in a car wreck. In the seconds before the impact, or even during the crash, you might brace your hands against the dashboard, the side or ceiling of your car. At a speed, this action places intense pressure on the bones, ligaments, and tendons in your hands and wrists.
In some accidents, drivers and passengers throw hands up during the impact, causing them to hit the window, the airbag, the steering wheel, doors, or other parts of their vehicle.
You may suffer a serious hand injury if you are gripping the inside of the steering wheel rather than the outside. The wheel may spin and twist, trapping your hands.
The type of broken wrist you suffer in a car, truck or motorcycle accident can include a break of the scaphoid bone to a distal radius fracture, a Barton’s fracture or a Chauffer’s Fracture. Torn ligaments can also have serious consequences.
Your wrists and hands are complex. There are no fewer than 27 bones. Almost half of these bones begin at the wrist and extend into your palms. There are 14 in your fingers and thumbs. Common fractures include:
Almost 20 percent of wrist fractures are distal radius fractures. A distal radius fracture occurs close to the wrist joint on the thumb side. It is usually the result of a fall onto an outstretched arm. It is also referred to as a Colles fracture after the Irish surgeon and anatomist, Abraham Colles who first diagnosed it in 1814, reports OrthoInfo.
In many distal radius fractures, the fractured portion of the radius is tilted upward. Doctors will look at whether the bones have been displaced and if the fracture extends into the radiocarpal joint, the joint linking the radius and the first row of carpal bones in your wrist.
The scaphoid fracture is one of the most common types of wrist fractures. It is named after the bone, which is the smallest bone in your wrist and the one most likely to break in a motor vehicle crash.
A Barton’s fracture is classified as a distal radius fracture as well as the dislocation of the radiocarpal joint between the forearm and the wrist. A Barton’s fracture is diagnosed and treated in a similar manner as a distal radius fracture. However, this break is more complicated and is less likely to be treated with a closed reduction, a resetting not requiring surgery. It will usually require surgery.
A chauffeur’s fracture is a break to the radial styloid, the bulge at the end of the radius bone by the base of the thumb. The fracture is typically caused by a direct impact to the radius. This injury is named a chauffer’s fracture because a wrist strike from the hand-crank of early cars often caused this painful fracture. It typically requires surgery.
The ulnar runs parallel to the radius. It’s a smaller forearm bone. The bulge at the end of the bone is called the styloid. This fracture typically occurs with a distal radius fracture after a fall. Treatment is not always necessary, particularly if the break occurs at the tip of styloid. However, when the fracture occurs at the styloid base and or there is a danger it will destabilize the tiny joint between your radius and ulna bones, (called the distal radioulnar joint), it may require surgery.
This injury may involve the tendons of the wrist becoming inflamed. It is usually characterized by severe pain around the wrist joints. In some cases, there can be another cause like arthritis.
A wrist sprain is the least severe kind of wrist injury you can suffer in a car crash. It occurs when ligaments connecting your wrist bones are stretched but not torn.
Sprains often occur when wrist ligaments are hyperextended or forcibly bent, which can occur during a car, truck or motorcycle crash.
Partially torn ligaments are a more serious injury classified as grade two. Victims who suffer this injury may end up losing some function in their hand.
When ligaments are completely torn, the injury is classified as grade three. These injuries are often accompanied by a fracture to the joint. Victims often require immediate surgery to avoid developing instability and debilitating arthritis.
The joints in your hands allow them to move. If you dislocate a joint, you must seek immediate surgery to avoid permanent damage.
If you suffer a broken wrist in a Virginia Beach car accident or anywhere else in Virginia, you may miss work and suffer high medical costs for treatment. These will include ongoing orthopedic treatment. You may need many surgeries and months of rehabilitation including physiotherapy. The longer your treatment lasts, the more expensive it becomes.
A severe injury will also make everyday life much more difficult because you use your wrists and hands for a range of tasks including eating, driving, typing, texting, and showering.
A broken wrist may take months to heal and cause considerable pain, suffering, and inconvenience. If you suffer this injury, it’s important to hold an at-fault driver liable for what you went through. Our personal injury lawyers will take over the case to allow you to concentrate on your recovery. Please call us at (757) 455-0077 and see our information about what to do after a Virginia car accident.
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