Shoulder Injuries Caused by Car Accidents | Lawsuit Legal

Have you injured your shoulder in a car accident?

Shoulder injuries can be excruciatingly painful and leave victims with substantial pain and suffering, impact mobility, and mounting medical bills.

The shoulder joint is particularly vulnerable to injury during the sudden impact of a collision.

To make matters worse for victims, the recovery timeline can be extensive and require months of treatment for complete healing.

At Lawsuit Legal, our experienced personal injury attorneys understand the profound impact that shoulder trauma can have on your quality of life.

We can carry the legal claim process for you after a serious accident to obtain the compensation you deserve so you can focus on recovery.

Call (888) 713-6653 for a free consultation, any hour of the day or night. If your injury keeps you at home or in the hospital, we can come to you.

Your shoulder is an intricate network of bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments that work together to provide the range of motion we often take for granted. An impact with the steering wheel, or forceful wrenching of the upper torso during collision can cause devastating trauma to this vulnerable network of tissue and bone. Among the car accident injuries we most commonly encounter, shoulder injuries can be counted among the most painful and lasting. When your body is violently jolted during a car crash, the physical trauma can cause several types of shoulder injuries:

Rotator Cuff Tears

Cuff tears occur when the group of muscles and tendons that stabilize your shoulder joint are stretched or torn. These injuries often result from the forceful impact against a seatbelt or steering wheel and can cause persistent pain, weakness, and reduced range of motion.

Shoulder Fractures

A broken shoulder can involve the clavicle (collarbone), scapula (shoulder blade), or proximal humerus (upper arm bone), and these fractures commonly result from direct impact trauma during collisions. These fractures can be particularly painful and may require surgical intervention.

Shoulder Dislocations

Dislocations occur when the ball of the upper arm bone (humerus) is forced out of the shoulder socket. The violent forces in car accidents can easily cause this painful injury, which may lead to instability and recurrent dislocations.

Labral Tears

Damage to the cartilage rim surrounding the shoulder socket is known as a labral tear. These injuries often occur alongside dislocations and can cause catching sensations, pain with certain movements, and shoulder instability.

Bursitis and Tendinitis

We commonly encounter bursitis and tendinitis in car accident victims. In the days following the initial trauma the shoulder tissues can become inflamed and cause these painful conditions. These conditions can take time to develop and show symptoms and can cause persistent pain and limited function in the days following a crash.

Two shoulder claims from similar crashes can resolve for numbers that are worlds apart. The difference is rarely luck. A handful of factors do most of the work:

• Surgery. An arthroscopic repair moves a claim into a different bracket than conservative care alone, and a failed repair or a revision procedure moves it again.
• Permanence. Documented loss of range of motion, an impairment rating, or chronic instability tells the insurer this injury does not end when treatment does.
• Your work. A torn rotator cuff means one thing for someone at a desk and something else entirely for an electrician, a nurse, or anyone who lifts or reaches overhead for a living. Lost earning capacity is often the largest single component of these claims.
• The dominant arm. The same tear on your dominant side disrupts far more of daily life, and the claim should reflect that.
• The treatment record. Gaps in care and skipped therapy appointments get read by adjusters as proof the shoulder healed. Consistent, documented treatment protects both your recovery and your case.

Expect the insurer to point at your MRI and call the tear degenerative. Shoulder imaging in older adults often shows some age-related wear, and adjusters use it to argue the crash changed nothing. A treating surgeon who can separate acute trauma from chronic wear defeats that argument, and we make sure the record contains that opinion before we talk numbers.

This is work our firm knows well. Lawsuit Legal has handled 40,000+ cases with a 98% recovery rate, and shoulder claims reward that kind of preparation more than most.