Ten common injuries from falling down stairs are:
- broken legs or ankles,
- arm injuries,
- broken or fractured hands,
- traumatic brain injuries (TBIs),
- spinal injuries,
- broken ribs,
- nerve damage,
- soft tissue injuries, including whiplash,
- knee injuries, and
- cuts and bruises.
Victims can often recover compensation in a personal injury claim based on premises liability.
1. Broken legs
The personal injury lawyers at our law firm have found that one of the most common injuries suffered after falling down stairs are broken legs or ankles. This often happens due to hard contact with one of the stairs. However, ankles can break or fracture if you step on the edge of the stair’s tread and then slide off it when you put weight on your foot.
In some cases, these broken bones can be severe. Surgery and extensive physical therapy may be required to recover.
2. Arm injuries
Broken arms are also common injuries to suffer, though they tend to only happen in serious falls. Your arm can break when it comes into contact with the nose of the stair or gets tangled in the handrail or a banister.
Another common fall-related injury is a dislocation of the shoulder or elbow. This can happen if you fall down the stairs and land directly on your arm.
3. Hand injuries
Hand injuries are extremely common in a stairway accident. They generally occur when you try to use them to break your fall. This reaction is a natural one and, while it may lead to a broken or fractured hand, it often prevents a more serious injury.
4. Traumatic brain injuries
One of the most serious injuries you can suffer from falling down stairs is a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This happens when motion or contact makes you brain collide with the inside of your skull. This sort of head injury is also known as a concussion. In a stairway accident, this typically happens when your head hits the floor or a stair. This can also cause a skull fracture.
TBIs, skull fractures, and other head trauma can be severe injuries that prove to be life-altering.
5. Back and spine injuries
You can also suffer back or spinal cord injuries in a stairway accident. These back injuries come in a variety of types, including:
- broken vertebrae,
- slipped or herniated discs,
- spinal fractures,
- soft tissue injuries in the back,
- whiplash, and
- muscle strains.
Even if they are just soft tissue injuries and your spine is not compromised, the back pain can still be debilitating.
6. Broken ribs
Broken ribs can happen in a stairway accident when you fall and hit your ribcage on the edge of a step. These injuries are painful and recovery can be slow. If the contact is hard enough to dislodge the rib, it can cause other serious medical complications.
7. Nerve damage
Many of these injuries, particularly spinal injuries, can lead to nerve damage. Damage to your nervous system can cause a variety of serious and debilitating symptoms, including:
- loss of motion,
- loss of feeling,
- chronic pain, and
- reduced strength.
This is often felt in the extremities or near where your injury occurred.
8. Soft tissue injuries
Among the most common injuries that you can suffer from falling down stairs are soft tissue injuries. These are injuries to something other than your skeletal system. They include:
- torn muscles,
- sprained ligaments,
- strained muscles or tendons, and
They can be painful and debilitating, but a full recovery is common in a few months.
9. Knee injuries
People who fall down stairs often suffer knee injuries. These include:
- hyperextension,
- broken kneecaps, and
- torn muscles or ligaments in the knee, including the meniscus, ACL, or MCL.
Our personal injury attorneys have found that these injuries are especially common when the stairs break underneath your weight.
10. Cuts and bruises
2 very common but usually relatively minor injuries that you can suffer from falling down stairs are cuts and bruises. Cuts are lacerations to your skin that can lead to bleeding. Bruises are skin discolorations from damaged or broken blood vessels. When you hit the stairs or the floor, you can suffer either one from the trauma. You may also suffer a contusion from the impact.
Occasionally, the cuts are severe enough to require immediate medical attention.
Which injuries are the most common
According to a study in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, among the more than 1 million patients treated annually in emergency room visits for stairway accidents:
“Sprains and strains (32.3%), soft tissue injuries (23.8%), and fractures (19.3%) were the most common types of injury. The body regions most frequently injured were the lower extremities (42.1%) and head/neck (21.6%). Patients less than 10 years old experienced more head/neck injuries. Older adult patients more frequently sustained fractures than younger age groups.”[1]
Who is susceptible to falling down stairs
The same study in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine found that, while 67.2 percent of stair fall injuries were suffered by people between the ages of 11 and 60, the highest injury rates were among young children and older adults.
Personal injury claims based on premises liability
If you fell down a flight of stairs and got hurt, you may have a legal claim against the owner of the property.
Property owners and managers have a legal obligation to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe manner. This includes taking precautions to prevent falls in the stairwell or reduce the risk of falling there. If you fell down their staircase, it may have been due to their negligence.
Some common causes of these slip and fall accidents are:
- the stairs were uneven and there was no warning about it,
- the stair treads were slippery,
- handrails were missing or broken,
- the height of the stairs was not in compliance with local building codes,
- there was poor lighting,
- the wood supporting the stairs was rotten, or
- the stairs collapsed under your weight.
You can hold them accountable for failing to uphold their legal obligations by filing a personal injury case against them. You can also recover compensation for your losses sustained from the stairway fall. This includes the costs of your medical treatment, your lost income, and compensation for your pain and suffering.
Citations:
[1] Blazewick, Danielle H, et al., “Stair-related injuries treated in United States emergency departments,” American Journal of Emergency Medicine (April 2018).
