What Happens If My Torn Meniscus From A Car Accident Never Heals Properly
Key Takeaways:
Are you wondering about what happens if my torn meniscus from a car accident never heals properly…
- It is likely that the interior portion of the knee or “white zone” is unable to repair itself because of the absence of blood supply.
- An injury that fails to recover properly means persistent pain and inability to move, even when a proper course of treatment has already been achieved.
- Failed recovery from an injured knee will cause a higher risk of acquiring arthritic ailments due to trauma brought by the injury, as well as permanent physical incapacity.
- Permanent injuries are awarded with a much higher monetary compensation, provided that there are medical records supporting such injuries.
- According to the 1% rule of North Carolina, the initial filing of a personal injury claim may lead to approval or rejection of the claim, thus limiting the discussion to facts only.
Now, you have a lifelong knee injury, an injury that impacts how your condition is treated and valued for your North Carolina knee injury claim. Untreated meniscus tears cause years of pain, failed surgery, and increased chances of developing arthritis prematurely.
This injury also makes a difference in the law because, in North Carolina, how you prove your injury could mean recovering no compensation at all.
My name is Robert Tatum, and I am an attorney working at Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm. Our firm, which has been serving the community for more than 65 years as a veteran-owned firm, specializes in North Carolina car accidents, including permanent knee injuries due to torn menisci. In case your torn meniscus from a car accident does not heal, then we have all the knowledge on North Carolina knee injury cases, contributory negligence laws, and compensation.
What is a Torn Meniscus?
The meniscus is a type of cartilage that acts as protection for the knee joint. Each knee has two menisci, both of which refer to tough, rubbery structures located between the thighbone and shinbone and cushion the joint whenever there is any force exerted on them.
A torn meniscus is a tear in the cartilage. At times, the tear may be small, whereas at other times, the tear can occur in the whole pad. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, menisci act as shock absorbers and joint stabilizers; hence, they cause instability whenever they are torn.
Why Some Tears Heal and Others Don’t
It’s all about the blood. As mentioned earlier, the outermost one-third of the meniscus, also referred to as the “red zone,” contains a blood supply. As such, any tear sustained here can not only heal itself but also be repaired by surgery.
However, the inner two-thirds of the meniscus, known as the “white zone,” lacks a good blood supply. Any tear occurring here cannot heal naturally since the cells never get the proper nutrition necessary for healing. This one simple point explains why some knees recover from meniscal injuries while others do not.
How Car Wrecks Tear the Knee
Car wrecks provide a perfect example of a source of injury. As a result of the accident, the knee collides with the dashboard of the car, twists under a locked seatbelt, or takes an impact from a straightened leg wedged under the floorboard. It simply is not made to withstand such forces.
Why Crash Tears Are Often Worse Than Sports Tears
A crash packs much more power than turning your ankle while playing basketball. Such power leads to multiple structures being damaged in the process, including the meniscus, ACL injury, and even bone bruises.
Multiple injuries are more complicated to treat and take longer to recover from. In the high-speed highways that cross the state, like Interstate 40 crossing the Triangle area, Interstate 85 heading toward Charlotte, and Interstate 95 on the eastern side, the impact in the collision carries sufficient energy for cartilage to be torn apart, which would otherwise never tear.
What “Never Heals Properly” Actually Means
It means that the knee joint will remain broken after treatment is completed. You’ve gone through physiotherapy; you might have even undergone surgery, but nothing ever healed. That’s an injured knee.
Signs Your Knee Hasn’t Recovered
Look out for:
- pain on weight bearing
- swelling that recurs
- the sensation of catching/locking when bending
- and the instability of the knee that feels like it may give out
- morning stiffness.
Difficulty walking up and down the stairs. A clicking sensation that you feel with your hand. You’ll find all of these symptoms persisting even as time passes when the injury lies in tissue that cannot heal.
When the Injury Becomes Permanent
There is a phrase that the doctors use: “maximum medical improvement” or MMI. It refers to a condition where your injury reaches a plateau, and no further treatment will help it get any better.
At this stage, if you have not recovered from the injury, then the injury is permanently damaging. One phrase changes everything in an injury lawsuit, and it is one that the insurance company does not want to see anywhere near your file.
Treatment: and Why It Doesn’t Always Work
Knowing how the knee works is very important when selecting the treatment approach since every approach has advantages, disadvantages, and certain results that should be considered.
Non-Surgical Treatment
Try conservative treatment first. Rest, ice, anti-inflammatories, and physical therapy will help in most cases with smaller meniscal tears, especially those in the red zone.
Some patients receive a cortisone shot to reduce the swelling. It’s effective for the tear that is in the zone where it heals. If it’s not, then it treats the symptoms rather than the causes of the condition; the knee gets better for some time until the pain returns.
Surgery: Repair vs. Trimming
There are two types of surgery. One is meniscus repair, which means stitching of the torn ends so that the meniscus can regrow. It’s a better choice in the long run since it’s done in the case of a tear in the zone with good blood supply.
The other surgery is a partial meniscectomy, in which the surgeon removes the injured part of the meniscus. Though this procedure brings fast relief, it reduces the knee’s protection. According to AAOS guidelines for meniscal repair, partial removal of the meniscus increases the risk of osteoarthritis.
Why Surgery Isn’t a Cure
It works, but it’s not like returning the knee to its stock settings. There are still those who have some degree of pain, inflammation, or impaired movement despite a successful surgical procedure, particularly when the tear was bad and/or included other issues.
Data show that the incidence of knee arthritis in long-term follow-ups of those whose cartilage was removed is significantly higher than in those who were never hurt. Successful surgery and a restored knee are two different things.
The Long-Term Cost of a Knee That Doesn’t Recover
Damage to the meniscus leads to abnormal mechanics in the joint.
Post-Traumatic Arthritis
With time, it wears out the cartilage protecting the joint, causing post-traumatic arthritis, sometimes much sooner than would be expected.
Follow-ups of the meniscectomy patients showed that a significant portion of them had developed arthritis after meniscus surgery in the imaging 15–20 years after the procedure. It means that for those injured in their thirties, a knee replacement will become a real possibility earlier than they thought.
How a Bad Knee Reshapes Work and Daily Life
Once you have locked knees, weak knees, or any other knee problems, it is no longer just a matter of the knee. It becomes a staircase problem, a vehicle problem, and an all-day standing problem. Whether they are roofers, nurses, warehouse workers, or delivery men, anyone who has to walk on their feet experiences its effects firsthand. Some people end up switching their jobs.
What an Unhealed Knee Means for Your North Carolina Claim
That’s where science and law intersect. You’ll need to prove every aspect of an enduring, permanent knee injury car accident claim, since the law requires proof of everything, and getting any one of them wrong could derail the entire case before it starts.
The 1% Rule and Why Your Record is Everything
North Carolina is one of only five jurisdictions in the United States that has a true contributory negligence rule. If the plaintiff is found 1% at fault, he or she will receive no compensation whatsoever. That means zero, not a reduction. An adjuster’s job is to get that 1%. Your consistent record of care relating to the knee to the accident is what will defend against this finding.
How Insurers Treat Knee Injuries
Insurance companies will try to refer to knee injuries as “soft tissue injury” and pay them out as such. A torn meniscus car accident is not soft tissue; the Heavy Hitters (Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm) won’t allow this characterization from an adjuster. Get ready for the low initial offer, the demand for a recorded statement, and the offer to settle prior to reaching your MMI, before knowing if you have a permanent injury.
Settle quickly, and you’ll pay for all subsequent surgeries out of your pocket. This is a common tactic, like insurance company soft tissue knee injury lowball strategy, so don’t fall for it.
Why Permanence Raises the Number
Claimed amounts are not only for paid bills. They include the future medical damages, decreased lost earning capacity, and the daily costs of living with an injured joint that does not function properly.
Once the treating physician states that this condition is permanent, the above-mentioned amounts become relevant, and they usually exceed the sums of previously paid bills by a significant factor. A fine line in the chart separating “he will get better” from “it is permanent” may determine everything.
Proving the Crash Caused the Tear
Causation is the issue at hand. The defense will always try to establish that your meniscus tear not healing prior to the accident, due to wear and tear, aging, previous sports injuries, et cetera. Proving causation means having imaging done quickly and a physician who will link, along with a consistent chain of events, with no gaps.
Additionally, time limits apply to any claim of personal injury or wrongful death. The statute of limitations in a North Carolina knee injury claim for a car accident case is three years from the date of the accident, per N.C.G.S. § 1-52(16). In a wrongful death case, you have a mere two years from the date of death, per N.C.G.S. § 1-53.
An injured knee that will not heal is a permanent injury, not a fender bender. Make sure the claims adjuster does not put a band-aid price on your case.
A torn meniscus that does not heal is a long-term injury wearing the mask of a soft tissue injury. Treat it like a permanent problem and do not allow an initial meniscus tear settlement value North Carolina offer to determine your compensation for ongoing pain.
So call us at (800) 529-0804 · Free consultation · No fee unless we win your case.
Talk to a North Carolina Car Accident Lawyer About Your Knee Injury
When it’s hard to understand your standing after a wreck because your knee turns out to be more damaged than initially diagnosed by the doctors, that is the time to make the call. The first few weeks will go by with medical appointments, scans, and hoping for recovery. The legal stuff can come later, but the statute of limitations starts ticking immediately.
For over a decade, Tatum & Atkinson, Personal Injury & Accident Attorneys, have been working on cases of pure contributory negligence in North Carolina.
The Heavy Hitters know exactly what the adjuster is going to do with the North Carolina knee injury claim before he does that: use the soft tissue injury designation, make an early low offer, and try to get a recorded statement to find that elusive 1%. Our team deals with claims in North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina, and we know how to prove the permanence of an injury.
For a free consultation, dial (800) 529-0804. On a contingency fee basis, we do not get paid if we don’t get you paid. The initial phone call takes about 20 minutes and costs you nothing to see where your case stands. Our primary office address is 702 Glenwood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27605.
Frequently Asked Questions!
How much does it cost to hire a lawyer for a knee injury claim?
Nothing upfront. Law firms handling personal injuries in North Carolina operate on a contingency fee basis, which means you won’t pay the fee from your own pocket; you will only pay after winning the case because the fee is deducted from your settlement. The initial consultation is always free. Such an arrangement is put in place to enable an injured individual to afford a lawyer even when they are unemployed and facing huge medical bills.
Should I wait until my knee heals before doing anything about a claim?
No, but do not accept the offer until you know if it is a permanent injury. Get your case started so that there will be proof of your injury, and the timeline will remain clear. Next, do not accept a settlement until you have been medically determined to have achieved maximum medical improvement. To do otherwise means setting your number on a knee that may worsen in the future.
Can I still recover if I was partly at fault for the crash?
This is the most difficult question to answer in your case in North Carolina. Given that a plaintiff cannot recover damages in this state if she bears any share of fault, being “partly at fault” could bar her from any recovery under contributory negligence rules. This is why your recorded statement to the insurance company carries so much weight. Speak with an attorney before giving one.
Why is the insurance company calling my knee injury “minor”?
It is much cheaper to classify such an injury as a soft tissue injury. The adjuster will make a minimal settlement offer and will continue working with another case. Don’t accept it. Torn meniscus car accident injuries that cannot be healed are serious, and it is the medical records, not the adjuster, who decides about their nature and severity.
My doctor keeps telling me to come back. Does that matter for my case?
It is the most important thing after the initial consultation. All subsequent visits to the treating physician build up the history that confirms the injury and its relation to the accident. Missing appointments provides the insurer with an argument that the injury was either minor or non-existent from the very beginning. Regular appointments ensure both physical healing and proper documentation of the case.
Will my knee injury case go to trial?
The majority do not. Most of the injury claims settle once there is enough evidence to do so. However, a claim that is being built as a case that will go to court is more likely to get a higher meniscus surgery settlement because the insurance company understands that the firm is ready to take it to trial. Trial preparation does not equal trial attendance.
