Los Angeles Broken Bone Injury Attorney
The lawyers DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo in Los Angeles have worked hard for their clients since 1979 to make sure they receive the maximum compensation they deserve for their broken bone injuries. We want you to meet with an experienced Los Angeles broken bones attorney to discuss your case and lay out your legal options. We represent all types from fracture cases from personal injury cases to work injury and workers compensation cases.
Trust DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo
Broken bone injuries and their related treatments and recoveries can be very stressful for the victim and their family. We will work hard to ensure you get the proper medical care you need to heal and recuperate. To ensure we thoroughly represent your case, we will consult with accident reconstructionists, economists, physicians, and vocational experts. Call us today at (213) 416-2472 to schedule your free initial consultation and case evaluation.
Definition of Broken Bone Injuries
Fracture is the scientific term for broken bones. Children are likely to break a bone since their bones are softer. Fractures can occur to a bone when the amount of force that is applied to the bone is stronger than the actual bone. The result of the excess force is a disruption in the continuity of the bone. Health professionals abbreviate fractures by using: #, FRX, or Fx.
Is it a Fracture Injury?
Please call your doctor if you think you have broken a bone. Fractures are not always that easy to diagnose. This is especially true when the break is a hairline or stress fracture. The usual signs of a fracture are: bruising, swelling, pain, and tenderness. Your medical professionals could use an X-Ray machine to try to help diagnose the injury.
Causes for Broken Bone Injuries
The usual causes for broken bone cases are as follows:
- Car, SUV and Truck or Trucking accidents;
- Ladder injuries;
- Pathological fracture from tumors, infections or cysts;
- Motorcycle accidents;
- Violence and fighting;
- Work injury;
- Crosswalk/pedestrian accidents;
- Osteoporosis;
- Repetitive stresses like running on sidewalks, boxing, etc;
- Slipping, tripping and falling;
- Bicycle accidents;
- Defective Hip Replacement
- On the job accidents;
- Bicycle or skateboard accidents; and
- Sports injuries.
List of Broken Bones
Foot Bones: About 10% of broken bones happen to our feet. The foot is very vulnerable to breaks. It is constructed with 3 sections consisting of the midfoot, forefoot, and the hindfoot that include 26 bones.
- Hindfoot Bones: The hindfoot is made of 2 large bones called the talus and the calcaneus. The talus is the name for the ankle. The calcaneus is our heel and the largest bone in the foot.
- Midfoot Bones: The middle part of the foot includes 5 bones which include the lateral cuneiform bone, cuboid, navicular, medial cuneiform bone, and the intermediate cuneiform bone. This section absorbs shocks and constructs the foot’s arch.
- Forefoot Bones: The forefoot has many very small bones. The 19 bones are what make up the long part of the foot. Its makeup is similar to the structure of our fingers and palms. Each toe has a distal phalanx at its tip. The toe’s middle phalanx is next (though each big toe does not have a middle phalanx much like the thumb). The proximal phalanx connects the toes to the long metatarsal bones.
Pelvis Bones: The pelvis has 4 bones. It is very important for our mobility. The two hip bones are the most common fracture site for people sixty-five years old or older. The hips are made up of the following 3 parts: the ischium, the ilium, and the pubis. Most fractured hips happen due to weakened bones from osteoporosis. The other 2 bones of the pelvis are the coccyx and the sacrum. The sacrum is at the bottom of the spine whereas the coccyx can also be called the tailbone.
Leg and Thigh Bones: The thigh’s long bone is called the femur and it is so strong that it can support over twenty-five times the weight of an average adult. The lower legs from the knees down consist of three bones for each leg. They are the patella, fibula, and tibia. The patella is the bone that is more known by its other name: kneecap. The tibia and fibula are found below the knee.
Hand Bones: The metacarpal bones are the bones that bridge the fingers with the wrist bones. Their location is the palm of the hand and there are five of them. Each of our fingers has 3 small bones (while the thumb only has two bones). The bone nearest to the wrist is the proximal phalanx. The middle bone among the three finger bones is the middle phalanx. The last bone of each finger is named the distal phalanx (our finger tips).
Wrist Bones: People under 65 years old statistically fracture their wrist more than any other bone. A wrist fracture can refer to breaking 1 or both of the 2 forearm bones. The forearm bones are the radius and ulna. The 8 bones of the wrist are in 2 rows of 4 bones. One row has the capitate bone, trapezoid bone, trapezium bone, and the hamate bone. The second row has the lunate bone, triquetrum bone, scaphoid bone, and pisiform bone.
Arm Bones: Forearms happen to be very much more likely to break than the bones of the upper arm. The forearm is made of 2 long bones called the ulna and the radius. These bones often break because of falls or trauma from car, bicycle, skateboard or motorcycle accidents or injuries that happen while playing sports. Olecranon breaks are fractures at the end of the ulna bone near the elbow. Radial head breaks are when the radius bone breaks near the elbow. When the fracture happens to be in the middle section of the forearm bone (not near the wrist or the elbow), it is referred to as a radial shaft break or ulnar shaft break. The humerus is a very thick bone that makes up the upper arm from the shoulder down to the elbow.
Thorax Bones: The thorax is made up of 25 bones. Twenty-four of those are the 12 ribs on each side and the 25th bone is the sternum. Some medical books, though, will state that the sternum is made up of 3 bones called the xiphoid process, the gladiolus (body of the sternum), and the manubrium. Broken ribs are probably very painful for the patient as it can even be painful when an injured person breathes laughs or breathes heavily.
Spinal Cord: The spinal cord includes 5 lumbar vertebrae, 12 thoracic vertebrae, and 7 cervical vertebrae. More information about the spinal cord is found in the Spinal Cord Injury page.
Shoulders & Collarbones: The collarbone can also be called the clavicle. Its most important functions are to help keep the shoulder up while also protecting the blood vessels and nerves. The 2nd bone that is part of the shoulder is the scapula or the shoulder blade. There are 3 types of typical scapula fractures: scapular neck fractures, scapula body fractures, and glenoid fractures.
Cranial & Skull Bones:
The skull is made up of 8 cranial bones. They are: the 2 temporal bones, the 2 parietal bones that protect the top of the skull along with the sides, the sphenoid bone which is located in front of the temporal bone, the frontal bone, the occipital bone whose job is to protect the back of the skull, and the ethmoid bone.
Facial Bones: Fourteen bones are part of the facial bones. They include the mandible or lower jaw, the 2 maxilla bones or mustache bones/upper jaw, the 2 nasal bones, the hyoid bone in the throat, the 2 cheek bones (zygomatic bones), the 2 palatine bones, the vomer, the lacrimal bone, and the inferior nasal concha.
Broken Bones Types
Your specific fracture may fit into more one of the following fracture categories.
Compound Broken Bone: Compound breaks have occurred when the broken bone has created a hole in the fracture victim’s skin. A compound fracture can also be called an open broken bone. This type of fracture carries the risk of a dangerous deep bone infection named osteomyelitis that might be chronic or acute.
Simple Broken Bone: When the fracture is a simple fracture, the bone (or bones) does break but the fracture does not puncture a hole through the outer layer of the victim’s skin. A simple broken bone is also called a closed broken bone.
Transverse and Linear Broken Bone: Transverse broken bones have happened when the break is at a 90 degree angle to the alignment of the bone whereas Linear Broken Bones are when the line of the fracture is actually parallel to that of the injured bone.
Greenstick Broken Bone: Young children are the most common victims. Greenstick fractures are when the injured person’s bone has physically bent because of force but they have not broken or snapped.
Impacted Broken Bone: This type of fracture has occurred when 2 of the fracture victim’s bones are forced into each other (due to injuries like falling). This statistically happens more to children and older adults since those are the two age group that are most likely to slip, trip or fall.
Pathologic Broken Bone: Broken bones that happen because of pathologic causes are those that happen partially or fully due to a disease that weakens the bones like infections, tumors, osteoporosis, and some other bone disorders. Osteoporosis is when the bones are losing old bone cells quicker than they can replace them with new bone cells.
Displaced & Non-Displaced Broken Bones: Displaced fractures are when the bone breaks and shifts out of its normal location and alignment. Non-displaced fractures are the opposite in that they are breaks where the bone does not move from its normal alignment and location.
Stress Fractures: Stress fractures are caused by a repetitive force against the bones over a long duration. They are not those that happen due to a single and acute event. Poor nutrition and athletics are two of the top reasons for stress fractures.
Commuted Broken Bones: It is a commuted fracture if the break caused the bone to break into many pieces.
Potential Treatments for Broken Bones
Treatment will depend on the location, the severity of the break, the type of break and any other injuries that a patient is also suffering from. The doctor may need to set the injured bone in its correct spot and then put a cast on to allow it to heal properly. In more complex fracture cases, the use of pins, screws, rods and plates may be needed.
Contact the Firm You Can Trust
Initial case consultations and case evaluations are free for all of our clients. In addition to the first consultation being free, we will work on a contingency basis where you will not pay or owe us anything unless and until we win your case. The broken bone attorneys at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo, Los Angeles will meet you at our office, your house or your hospital room on Monday through Friday between 8:30am and 5:30pm. By appointment, we will even meet with you on Saturday and Sunday and in the evening.
Law Firm of DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo
Los Angeles, California
Call us anytime at: (213) 416-2472
Over Thirty Years of Experience
Our solid reputation as broken bone injury lawyers that has been built on over three decades of quality work is known throughout Los Angeles, California, Bakersfield, Ventura, San Bernardino, San Diego, Orange County, Riverside, and Long Beach. Thank you for taking the time to visit our webpage. We hope to hear from you soon so we can start helping you recover.
