Can An Auto Accident Cause Arthritis Issues?

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Do you wonder if an auto accident can cause arthritis issues? The short answer is they probably can. Keep reading to read a brief overview of all of this from Asheville automobile accident attorney Lakota R.Denton .

Arthritis is generally defined as a joint suffering inflammation. The most frequent reason this happens is that joint surface cartilage gets worn out. Post-traumatic arthritis often happens as a kind of osteoarthritis which happens if a joint gets physically injured.

At the time of writing, post-traumatic arthritis was affecting 12 percent of all cases of ankle, hip, or knee osteoarthritis. That involved roughly five and a half million Americans. This kind of arthritis happens due to injuries, which might be military wounds, falls, and sports, but vehicle accidents can certainly be the kind of physical trauma behind it. Injuries like these can hurt your bones and cartilage, resulting in changes in joint mechanics. That all leads up to the joints wearing out faster, and that process can be further accelerated by extra body weight and continual injury.

Doctors have identified or documented approximately two hundred kinds of arthritis, but they do fall into three pretty large categories. They are non-inflammatory arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, and connective tissue diseases. Symptoms can also be similar, including exhaustion, perpetual fatigue, weight loss, and joints that are swollen, sore, stiff, and warm. Rheumatoid arthritis specifically can also trigger effects like skin ulcers and rashes, pulmonary fibrosis, dry mouth, issues with salivation, and eyes that are sore, swollen, or red.

A car accident that even happens at low speeds can mean broken bones, which have been known to happen at 20 MPH for someone wearing their seatbelt. Accidents don't always result in breaks that are considered clean. Bones might get forced inwards or even outwards, which will hurt joints and their cartilage along the way. Proper medical attention can heal bones, but once this kind of damage is done, the bones might struggle anyway. This sort of damage might show back up later in life as arthritic symptoms.

Doctors and physicians aren't even honestly sure what the various causes of arthritis are, but statistical evidence points to injuries and accidents. The hunt for specific and clear answers is an ongoing process. However, a number of studies have happened that looked at the link between RA and physical trauma. One of these studies found a robust correlation, and it was published in Rheumatology, a medical journal. In that study, 20 percent of the documented RA patients reported having some kind of injury in the previous half-year. On the other hand, less than 7 percent of the control group without arthritis reported having accidents in the same span of time. The sample sizes were small enough that more testing is required, but the early conclusion is clear.

Now that you've read this article, you know that while nothing is definitive, there is strong evidence suggesting that it in fact can. If you are involved in an accident and develop arthritis later, you might want to contact an Asheville North Carolina accident lawyer like Lakota R. Denton about seeking damages and/or compensation.