Foot Injuries Commonly Caused in Motorcycle Accidents

Any motorcycle injury can be painful, debilitating, and even life-threatening. While most people associate head, upper body, and leg injuries with motorcycle accidents, injuries to the foot are quite common. Depending on the specific circumstances of the situation and how the foot is impacted, motorcyclists can suffer from a variety of foot injuries. Read on to learn all about some of the most common lower extremity injuries, and how you can recover from them.

Soft Tissue Damage

If you’ve been in a motorcycle and have a foot injury, soft tissue damage is very common. Soft tissues in the foot include muscles, ligaments, and tendons. If your foot gets caught between the road and your bike or the road and another vehicle—or if your foot hits the road at an unnatural angle—you could experience soft tissue injuries like a sprain or strain. This is the “best-case scenario.”

In severe accidents—especially ones involving high speeds—soft tissue damage can be much more severe. Some riders experience torn ligaments or tendons that connect the foot to the ankle and leg, and the damage can impact the entire leg and, in turn, your mobility.

Fractured Bones

Broken bones are almost a guarantee when someone’s involved in a motorcycle accident, and the bones of the foot are particularly vulnerable. In fact, the most common foot injury following these collisions is a metatarsal fracture—a break in one of the main bones that connect to your toes. Multiple metatarsal fractures often require surgery, and even minor breaks require a cast and weeks of healing. 

Lacerations

Motorcyclists involved in accidents often sustain road rash, a friction burn that happens when your skin scrapes against something rough. Deeper wounds like lacerations, or cuts, are also common. Severe cuts can leave permanent scars and make you vulnerable to infection. If you experience lacerations in a motorcycle accident, you need to seek immediate medical treatment to clean the wound and get it stitched, if necessary.

Amputation

In severe cases, injuries to the foot in a motorcycle accident can lead to amputation. Crush injuries that occur when the foot is crushed by the bike, or another vehicle often stop blood flow to the foot. If blood flow can’t be restored to the foot, amputation is often necessary to prevent infection.

Injured in a Motorcycle Accident? The Team at Impact Medical Group of Lutz Can Help

If you’ve been in a motorcycle accident, seek medical treatment as soon as possible. While injuries of the foot are rarely fatal, they have a significant impact on your mobility and your overall quality of life.

Don’t wait to contact the caring medical team at Impact Medical Group of Lutz. After a free initial consultation, we’ll develop a customized treatment plan that helps you heal from a motorcycle accident, so you can get back to your normal life. Call us today at (813) 536-0373 to schedule your free evaluation.