Leg Swelling After a Motorcycle Accident in San Diego

The most common motorcycle accident injuries affect the lower extremities. These injuries happen because a motorcycle provides almost no protection for a rider’s legs or arms when the motorcycle tips over in a crash.

A leg injury can produce many symptoms, including bleeding, pain, and swelling. These symptoms might require expensive medical treatment. They may also disable you from working or caring for yourself.

If you’ve suffered from leg swelling and other injuries after a motorcycle accident in San Diego, California, contact Mission Personal Injury Lawyers for a free initial consultation at (619) 777-5555.

How Our San Diego Motorcycle Accident Lawyers Can Help You Pursue Compensation for Your Injuries

How Our San Diego Motorcycle Accident Lawyers Can Help You Pursue Compensation for Your Injuries

Mission Personal Injury Lawyers is a family-owned law firm in San Diego, CA with an injury claim success rate of over 99%. Our San Diego motorcycle accident attorneys have over 43 years of combined experience helping accident victims fight for fair injury compensation.

Our law firm has obtained tens of millions of dollars in injury compensation for accident victims. We’re passionate about fighting for injured people and securing the financial recovery they need to move forward. 

If you hire our San Diego personal injury lawyers for help after a motorcycle collision, we’ll help you by:  

  • Explaining your legal options and providing honest legal advice
  • Gathering the evidence needed to prove your claim 
  • Calculating the fair value of your economic and non-economic damages
  • Negotiating a fair settlement with the insurance company 
  • Representing you in court if necessary

A motorcycle accident in San Diego can cause debilitating injuries, even if you eventually heal from them. 

Contact Mission Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation to discuss your leg injury and the compensation you can recover after a motorcycle accident.

Is Leg Swelling a Common Motorcycle Accident Injury?

The most likely body parts injured in a motorcycle crash are those in the lower extremities. This list includes foot, leg, and hip injuries. These injuries happen in about 30% of all motorcycle accidents.

In 2019, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported that San Diego County had 47 motorcycle fatalities and 1,461 motorcycle injuries. But a lower extremity injury very rarely causes death.

Looking at non-fatal motorcycle injuries, about 440 motorcyclists suffered a foot, leg, or hip injury in San Diego County in just one year. Statewide statistics for 2019 show that 12,707 Californians suffered an injury in a motorcycle accident. Roughly 3,800 of these riders may have injured their foot, leg, or hip.

Causes of Leg Swelling After a Motorcycle Accident in San Diego, CA

Swelling occurs when fluid builds up in your tissues. Swelling can make your tissues hot and painful to the touch. Swollen skin can get stretched so tightly that it limits your mobility. And the fluid that builds up can limit the range of motion in your joints.

More importantly, swelling indicates a deeper problem. Swelling often happens in response to an injury. When your legs swell after a motorcycle accident, your body may be signaling that you need medical attention.

Swelling can cause a serious complication called compartment syndrome. In compartment syndrome, swelling pinches off the blood supply to the swollen area. The blood-deprived tissue can die from a lack of oxygen.

Swelling can happen for many reasons, including the following:

Infection

Infections happen when bacteria and viruses enter your body. This can happen in a motorcycle accident when you suffer a laceration, abrasion, or burn. When you break the skin, microorganisms move in and multiply.

The microorganisms compete with your body’s cells, depriving them of nutrients. Some microorganisms also release toxins to improve their competitive advantage and create more space to multiply.

The body responds to infections with swelling and fever. The swelling traps the microorganisms by squeezing the blood vessels shut. This causes fluid to accumulate in the swollen body part. The fever then “cooks” the microorganisms by creating an inhospitable environment for them.

Doctors can treat infections with antibiotics that attack the microorganisms. These attacks allow your immune system to gain the upper hand on the remaining microorganisms.

Inflammation

The body triggers an inflammatory response to many injuries, even those that do not involve an open wound. When you get injured, tissue damage triggers inflammation. And inflammation, in turn, causes your body to release repair cells.

Inflammation traps the repair cells in the injured area. But it also prevents oxygen-rich and nutrient-rich blood from reaching the injury. Thus, inflammation kicks off the healing process, but it can ultimately impede healing.

Injuries that can trigger inflammation include:

  • Bruises
  • Joint sprains
  • Torn cartilage
  • Broken bones
  • Muscle or tendon strains

Inflammation from an injury will usually go away when the injury heals. In the meantime, you might need to take anti-inflammatory drugs to minimize the effects of inflammation.

Blood Clots

Blood clots develop to protect your body from bleeding to death. Clots also trap repair cells inside an injury — like a broken bone or surgically repaired ligament — so that the injury can heal.

When blood clots break loose, they can lodge in your veins, impeding the flow of blood and causing swelling as fluid builds up. This injury, called deep vein thrombosis (DVT), often happens in the legs because gravity slows blood as it flows from your feet up to your heart. Gravitational forces acting on the blood allow it to pool and form clots.

If a clot reaches your lungs, you could suffer a pulmonary embolism. This condition can damage your lungs or kill you without emergency treatment.

Schedule a Free Consultation With Our San Diego Motorcycle Accident Attorneys To Discuss Your Leg Swelling and Other Injuries

Even a leg injury can require expensive treatment and require you to take time away from work. To discuss your motorcycle accident and the leg swelling you suffered, contact Mission Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation.