GENERAL ADVICE – JANUARY 2019
DOES A SECOND JOINT SUFFER BY FAVOURING A FIRST JOINT?
I regularly see patients who have an injured hip, knee, elbow or shoulder who subsequently complain of an injury involving the contralateral joint (the same joint on the other side of the body) by virtue of favouring the injured joint following a compensable accident.
The orthopaedic literature is quite firm. Such secondary injuries are almost universally fanciful. They do not occur. There is no relationship in the absence of any additional or specific injury.
Even if a patient is hobbling around on an injured left knee, and although perhaps more weight is being borne on the right knee, the right knee (if it was otherwise pristine) has an infinite number of miles left within it. The extra load being absorbed over a period of weeks, months or possibly even a year or two can be quite easily absorbed. In fact, because the left knee is so painful, the patient is probably less active than normal. He or she is not engaging in rigorous bipedal recreational pursuits. The contralateral uninjured right knee is in fact probably doing less work than it would normally.
Spurious claims arise from this misconception. Dismissing the myth early may save both sides considerable time, trouble and expense.
