Sprains and strains top the national injury count, and the ankle sprain leads the list. Millions of Americans suffer one every year, at work, in car crashes, on sidewalks, and on playing fields.
If you were hurt in New York, keep in mind that a "common" injury is not automatically a minor one. A sprain, a fracture, or a concussion can end a season, a job, or a career. Under New York law, the injury's name matters less than how it happened. What you recover turns on documentation and how fast you acted.
Why are ankle sprains the most common injury?
An ankle sprain is a stretch or tear of the ligaments that hold the joint together. It takes very little to cause one: a pothole, a wet stair, an uneven curb, a hard brake in traffic, or a bad step on a job site will do it.
That is why sprains cut across every group.
Minor sprains heal with rest. Severe ones involve full ligament rupture, immobilization, physical therapy, and sometimes surgery. People who work on their feet feel the difference most. A sprain that leaves a desk worker slightly uncomfortable can keep a tradesperson off the job entirely.
What other injuries are most common?
After sprains and strains, emergency rooms see a familiar list. Fractures, from falls, car crashes, and workplace accidents. Head injuries, including concussions, where the brain strikes the inside of the skull. Bruises and contusions from blunt impact, including airbag and seatbelt contact in a collision. Knee injuries, especially in people over fifty, where worn joints give way to tears and dislocations.
Two points deserve emphasis. First, a concussion needs prompt medical attention even when you feel fine. Symptoms can appear days later. Second, a fracture carries specific legal significance in New York car accident cases, which is explained below. Lasting psychological harm from a traumatic event is also real and compensable. We cover that separately in our discussion of psychiatric injury.
Does a common injury still support a legal claim in New York?
Often, yes. The legal question is never whether the injury is common. It is whether someone else's negligence caused it and what the law lets you recover.
For car accidents, New York's no-fault system pays your medical bills and lost wages up to $50,000 regardless of fault. You must file the no-fault application within 30 days of the crash. To sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering, your injury must meet the serious injury threshold in Insurance Law § 5102(d). The current categories, for actions started on or after May 26, 2026, include fracture, significant disfigurement, permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member, and significant limitation of use of a body function or system. A broken ankle is a fracture and meets the threshold on its own. A sprain can qualify only if the medical record shows a significant or permanent limitation. That is why consistent treatment and objective testing matter so much after a crash.
Fault matters too. Under CPLR § 1411(b), in motor vehicle cases filed on or after May 26, 2026, you are barred from recovery if your share of fault exceeds the combined fault of the parties you sue. Non-auto cases, like a fall on someone's property, still follow pure comparative fault under § 1411(a). There, your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault rather than barred.
What if the injury happened at work?
Workers' compensation covers the injury regardless of fault, paying medical care and a portion of lost wages. Comp is the exclusive remedy against your employer under Workers' Compensation Law § 11, so you generally cannot sue your boss. But you can often sue a third party whose negligence caused the injury, such as a property owner or general contractor. You keep your comp benefits at the same time. We explain when that path opens in can I sue beyond workers' comp.
On construction sites, the protections are stronger still. Labor Law § 240(1) places absolute liability on owners and general contractors for gravity-related injuries. The worker's own comparative negligence is not a defense. Sprains, fractures, and knee tears from falls are exactly the injuries these claims are built on. Our construction accident practice handles them every week. The most expensive ones are often the "minor" injuries people worked through instead of reporting.
What deadlines apply?
The deadlines move faster than most people expect. Thirty days to file the no-fault application after a car crash. Thirty days to report a work injury to your employer. Ninety days to file a Notice of Claim against a city or other municipality under General Municipal Law § 50-e, which matters if you were hurt by a city vehicle or on city property. Three years to file most personal injury lawsuits under CPLR § 214, and two years for wrongful death.
Evidence has its own clock. Surveillance footage gets overwritten. Potholes get paved. Every case ends up asking about the gap between the injury and the first doctor visit. See a doctor promptly, report every symptom, and keep records.
How Schwartzapfel Holbrook approaches common injuries with serious consequences
We do not grade a case by how dramatic the injury sounds. We look at what it did to the person's health, work, and future, and whether the evidence can prove it. A sprain that ends a tradesperson's career can be a larger case than a fracture that heals cleanly. Schwartzapfel Holbrook accepts a limited number of serious injury cases across New York City, Nassau County, and Suffolk County. We prepare each one for trial from day one. Insurers know which firms do that, and it shows in the settlements.
