Foot Injury Settlements for Car Accidents, Falls and More

Foot injury

If someone’s negligence caused your foot injury, you may have a case.

Let’s take a look at some foot injuries and how they may affect your personal injury case. Here are some foot injuries:

Metatarsal Fractures

The foot is complex. It is made up of soft tissues, bones, tendons and muscles.

There are 26 Bones in the Foot

There are 26 bones in the foot. 19 of these are toe bones (phalanges) and metatarsal bones (long bones in the middle of the foot).

A fracture is when a bone breaks.

Two Types of Fractures (Traumatic v. Stress)

There are two types of fractures:

Traumatic fractures
Stress fractures (small, hairline breaks caused over time)

Traumatic fractures

Traumatic fractures are also known as acute fractures. They are caused by a force or impact, like badly stubbing your toe.

Displaced vs Non-Displaced Fractures

Traumatic fractures are either displaced or non-displaced. If a fracture is displaced, a bone is broken and has shifted position. It is dislocated.

Displaced Fractures May Be Worth More

Displaced fractures generally have a higher full value for settlement purposes for the pain and suffering component of a personal injury claim. This translates to a higher full value of the case for settlement purposes.

Take Photos of Your Foot Injury

Take photos if you have the following signs and symptoms of a traumatic fracture:

Crooked or abnormal look.
Bruising or swelling the day after the accident.

Send the Photos to the Insurance Company

Send these pictures to the liability claims insurer as soon as possible. Photos will bring your case to life in the adjuster’s eyes.

You want your personal injury case to stand out to the adjuster.

Include Your Face in Some of the Photos

If you are attractive and/or healthy looking, send a full body picture to the adjuster.

You want the adjuster to be able to put a face behind the claim. You want to become a human being to the adjuster and not just a claim number.

Go to The Doctor

You want to get your complaints documented by a medical professional immediately. The adjuster needs documentation to make an offer. Medical records are documentation.

Doctor’s Can Treat Your Broken Foot

Don’t listen to people who tell you that a doctor cannot treat a broken bone in the foot. This is a myth. The doctor usually can help.

Waiting to Go to the Doctor Can Make Your Injury Worse

If you do not get medical treatment for your metatarsal bone quickly, you may have big problems. Some complications of not quickly treating the fracture are:

A deformity in the bone may restrict your ability to move your foot or create difficulty wearing shoes.
Arthritis that can be caused by a fracture in the joint (area where the 2 bones join)
Continuing pain and deformity
Non-union, or inability to heal, which may require a 2nd surgery or continuing pain.

Complications from Waiting Can Lower Case Value

These problems increase the full value of the pain and suffering component of a case.

However, if you wait to get treatment, the defense will argue that you failed to mitigate your damages. Therefore, if you wait to get treatment you may not get compensation for the aforementioned complications.

Injured Person Has Duty to Get Medical Treatment

The injured person has a duty to get medical treatment within a reasonable amount of time if needed.

Foot Injuries that are Caused from Other Injuries

Sometimes the injury inside your foot may be caused by an injury in another area in your body.

Foot Injuries Can Be Caused by Tibia Plateau Fractures

Some examples are:

Weakness of Extensor hallucis longus (EHL) muscle caused by a tibial plateau fracture

Extensor hallucis longus

Another foot injury that can be caused by a tibia plateau fracture is:

Numbness in the deep peroneal nerve distribution caused by a tibial plateau fracture

Peroneal nerve

Pedestrian Gets $10,000 After Car Runs Over His Foot

pedestrian hit by car diagram — Real diagram from crash report

Allstate paid $10,000 after a driver ran over a pedestrian’s foot. He claimed a soft tissue injury.

The accident happened in Miami Beach, Florida. We represented the pedestrian.

How Much Are Fractures of the Cuneiform Bones in the Foot Worth?

Cuneiform bones (Red is Medial; Yellow is intermediate; Green is lateral)

Fractures of the cuneiform bones can be serious. They can lead to arthritis. Arthritis increases the full value of the case.

Surgery to the cuneiform bones also increases the full value. The full value of pain and suffering for surgery to a a cuneiform fracture can be over $100,000.

Did someone’s carelessness cause your injury in an accident in Florida, or on a cruise or boat?