Don’t Ignore Shoulder Pain After a Car Crash

Unfortunately, car crash shoulder injuries are all too common. A shoulder injury can disrupt your daily life and make it difficult to work, play, take care of your family, or even feel a sense of peace and happiness. However, waiting until the pain goes away isn’t always in your best interest.

Shoulders are incredibly complex regions of the body. They’re often difficult or slow to heal, even with medical attention. Skipping the doctor after a crash can lead to more pain, stress, and medical bills down the road, and it may even lead to a more difficult time filing a successful insurance claim.

The shoulder is one of our body’s most complex regions of the body where bones, ligaments, tendons, and muscles come together. While most people think of the shoulder as a single joint, it actually contains four different joints (sternoclavicular (SC), acromioclavicular (AC), and scapulothoracic joints, and glenohumeral). Some of its most important parts include:

• Bones: the humerus (upper arm), clavicle (collarbone), scapula (shoulder blade), and other bones all are part of the shoulder’s structure.
• Rotator cuff: a group of muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder, stabilizing the joint and contributing to its impressive range of motion. It includes your supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres major, and subscapularis muscles.
• Labrum: a cup-like structure that’s made of cartilage. It holds the humerus in place.

Many of the shoulder’s joints, especially its main ball-and-socket joint, are relatively loose. This lets the arm and shoulder move so freely, but also makes the region prone to injury.

Now, think about how often you use your shoulder. Whether you’re picking up a bag of groceries, brushing your hair, or reaching to open a door, you’re engaging the shoulder. When it gets injured, even a “minor” injury can disrupt your life and cause extensive pain and suffering.

Common Types of Shoulder Injuries

While many different injuries can happen in a crash, here are three common ones:

• Whiplash after getting rear-ended: Whiplash injuries happen when your head suddenly snaps back and then forward, causing damage to the delicate soft tissue in your neck. In severe cases, the damage and pain can spread to other areas, like the shoulder.
• Torn rotator cuff and other soft tissue injuries after a collision: Your rotator cuff connects your upper arm bone (the humerus) to your shoulder blade and keeps the bone in its socket. The rotator cuff is made up of a network of muscles and tendons, and they tear easily. For example, if your hands were on the steering wheel during impact with another vehicle, the force can cause your arm to jam into your shoulder socket, tearing the network of tissues that make up your rotator cuff. Other times, seat belts can cause shoulder damage.
• Broken bones after impact: Having your car get struck by another vehicle can cause damage to the bones in your shoulder, causing fractures or breaks that take a long time to heal.
• Traumatic shoulder dislocation: When you suffer a dislocation, the humerus’ head (the ball in the joint) comes out of the socket.
• Herniated discs and other neck injuries: Sometimes, damage in the neck and back can cause shoulder pain. Nerves in our necks branch of into our shoulders and arms, and herniated discs and swelling can lead to muscle weakness and pain in the upper extremities.

While these three injuries are common after a wreck, they’re certainly not the only injuries that can happen to your shoulder. Nerve damage can increase your levels of pain, especially when you wait to address the injury.

It’s in your best interest to see a doctor after an accident who can accurately diagnose your injury and get you the care you need.

If you’re a typically healthy person, going to the doctor can feel like a chore. While you might be able to wait out a cold without medical attention, shoulder pain after a crash is different. It’s unlikely that many shoulder injuries will heal on their own, and even “minor” injuries like whiplash can disrupt and derail your life.

What’s more, in the stressful moments after a crash, your body’s natural stress response often masks the signs of severe injury and pain.

That’s why we always recommend that people who’ve been in car crashes get medical help whether they “feel” hurt or not—you just might be suffering from a hidden injury that will show up hours or days later. Many shoulder injuries require treatment, like anti-inflammatory medication, physical therapy, and even surgery. Getting help immediately reduces the likelihood that an injury will go unnoticed and get worse over time, saving you time, pain, and money.

In addition to helping you recover, there’s another good reason to go to the doctor right away after a crash—your car accident insurance claim or lawsuit. A successful claim needs evidence, and your word is not enough. Having medical records that detail the extent of your injuries (like x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, doctor’s notes, specialist consultations, and more) is crucial for getting the compensation you deserve after a crash.

To successfully litigate a car crash claim, you’ll need to prove that someone was negligent. That means you must show:

• Someone violated their duty of care (like a driver’s duty to drive safely follow the rules of the road.
• Their conduct caused your injuries.
• You suffered damages, like medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering, due to your injuries.

Your medical records are essential at steps two and three of this analysis, since they can link your shoulder pain to the crash and explain how your injuries have changed your life.

RELATED: Hurt in a Texas Car Accident? Here’s What to Do

Car accidents can be some of the most traumatic events a person can experience. When you need to recover and heal after a crash, you shouldn’t have to use your valuable time and energy to convince the insurance company to pay out your claim. You deserve to focus on your recovery, especially when you’re dealing with painful, complex injuries like a torn rotator cuff.

This is where Will Adams Law Firm enters the picture. We know how difficult the recovery process can be after a crash. For decades, our team of personal injury attorneys has stood up for injured people so they can focus on what matters most—their recovery.

We carefully assess your case’s value, so you’re never cheated out of a fair settlement, take care of all the paperwork, handle negotiations and communications with the insurance company, and give you practical legal advice about what to do next.

The Will Adams Law Firm team has over 25 years of experience standing up for people like you. We work tirelessly to hold the negligent accountable and protect injured people in the Greater Katy Area who have had their health, their future, and their lives stolen from them.

To speak with our team of personal injury lawyers in a complimentary case evaluation, call our office at 1-800-559-0593, or fill out our contact form.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject.