Common Shoulder Injuries After a Car Accident in California
If you have ever been in a car accident that resulted in an injury to your shoulder, then you are no doubt familiar with the severe pain that it produces. The three bones that make up the human shoulder are the humerus (upper arm bone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the clavicle (collarbone). Injury to any one of these bones or to the socket within the shoulder blade can easily cause lifelong disability as well as major, ongoing pain. There are several types of shoulder injuries that may not be immediately obvious right after an accident, but instead take hours or days to make themselves known. Some of these shoulder injuries will require expensive surgeries and ongoing physical therapy and/or medical treatment.
After an injury that is caused by a car crash, it is important that you work with a skilled personal injury attorney in order to defend your rights and recover any financial compensation that you may be due.
Common Symptoms of a Shoulder Injury
Some of the more frequently experienced symptoms of a shoulder injury that was caused by a traffic accident are:
- A painful, stiff shoulder that is tender to the touch. Will most likely be more painful at night and could possibly disrupt sleeping
- Weakness, numbness, tingling, or swelling of the shoulder
- Pain in one specific spot of the shoulder that increases when the shoulder is in use
- Pain experienced when moving the arm in any direction at all
- Sudden and severe pain experienced intermittently in the shoulder or surrounding area
- Pale purple, blue, or otherwise off-colored skin on and/or around the shoulder area
Common Shoulder Injuries After a Car Accident
In a car accident, it is possible to sustain almost any type of injury imaginable, but some of the most frequent injuries to the shoulder are:
- Rotator cuff tearing
- Strains and sprains
- Bruising
- Fractured bones
What is a Rotator Cuff Injury?
The rotator cuff is a collection of tendons and muscles that encircle the shoulder joint. An injury to this part of the arm frequently results in a dull, throbbing ache radiating from the shoulder and could potentially become more aggravated when the injured party attempts to sleep on the wounded side.
Tears to the rotator cuff can be either complete or partial. In the case of a partial tear, the tendon in that area is damaged but not fully separated. In a complete tear of the rotator cuff, the tendon has been fully separated from the bone. This causes a hole to develop through the separated tendon. In young people, most rotator cuff tears are the result of traumatic injuries, like a car accident. The rotator cuff becomes slightly easier to damage as age increases.
If you are seeking any type of shoulder pain or discomfort after a car accident, you must seek medical attention immediately. A throb or twitch that seems irrelevant at the time can quickly turn into something major before you even know what happened. Never take even minor symptoms such as soreness, discoloration of the skin, or bruising lightly. Only a doctor can really determine what is wrong and how it should be treated.
If you have suffered a shoulder injury following a traffic accident, it is in your best interest to contact a personal injury attorney so that you can begin building a claim. Here at the Los Angeles Injury Group, we have the knowledge and the experience to seek the maximum amount of compensation that you can receive in accordance with the law. We will help you build your legal claim from the ground up and stand by you from beginning to end. For a free consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys, call us at (310) 954-7248 today.