What Causes Shoulder Pain after a Car Accident?

Any accident involving a motor vehicle has the potential to cause long-term pain and injury to your body. It’s essential to see a doctor right away and not ignore unusual symptoms in areas like your shoulders. Our shoulders help us do countless things that we normally take for granted, like getting dressed, typing on a keyboard, and cooking for ourselves and our loved ones. If your shoulders do not function properly due to an injury after a car accident, there is no denying that your quality of life will suffer.

In this article, we will go over possible reasons that may be causing you to have shoulder pain if you were recently in a car accident. You can also have shoulder pain if you were injured by a careless or reckless individual while you were on a motorcycle or bicycle. Or, you may have gotten hit as a pedestrian when a vehicle hit you while you were walking through a parking lot or across the street.

Victims of negligence have the right to seek compensation for their harm and suffering, but the legal system can be difficult to navigate on your own. By contacting us, you will have a dedicated car accident injury lawyer by your side, who will fight to bring you every penny you deserve. Contact our law firm and schedule a free case evaluation with a member of our legal team.

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What can Cause Shoulder Pain Following a Car Accident?

The shoulder is one of many areas of the body that can be injured during a car, truck, bike, or pedestrian accident. Some of these are relatively minor injuries that will heal with rest, ice packs, and OTC pain meds. Others are more serious injuries that require immediate medical attention. Conditions that can cause you to have shoulder pain after a car accident include:

Shoulder strain – straining of the ligaments, tendons, and muscles in the shoulder can cause significant pain and weakness, along with limited range of motion.

Whiplash – technically a neck injury, but the impact of the head jerking forward and backward can result in soreness and tightness in the shoulders, along with neck pain and stiffness.

Shoulder dislocation – a dislocated shoulder is an injury where the arm bone is completely dislodged (pops out) from the socket. This is an incredibly painful injury, and immediate medical assistance is needed to reposition the shoulder bone back in place.

Bone fracture – like any bone in your body, the shoulder bones can be partially or completely fractured from blunt force trauma during a motor vehicle accident.

Torn rotator cuff – an overstretching or tearing of the rotator cuff is a common injury among car accident victims, particularly motorcycle / bike riders and pedestrians that fall down from the impact of being hit by a motor vehicle. Symptoms of a rotator cuff injury include soreness and tenderness in the shoulder, most often when lifting your arm over your head.

Bursitis – an inflammation of the bursae (fluid filled sacs that cushion the bones), which can cause pain, tingling, and numbness that may not appear for several weeks after the accident.

Nerve damage – another condition that may result in numbness or tingling in the shoulder, which you may not notice for weeks following a car accident.

Average Value of a Car/Truck Accident Injury Claim

Based on the type of injury and its implications on your personal and professional life, a claim for shoulder injury after a car, truck, motorcycle or bike accident may be worth between $30,000 and $250,000. If your injury results in disability or you have multiple, serious injuries, the amount of compensation can exceed $1,000,000. There may be other factors that add to the value of your claim, like negligence by the other driver. If their conduct was especially careless or dangerous, you may be awarded punitive damages by a jury.

How Long Do Shoulder Injury Lawsuits Take to Settle?

It takes anywhere from 4 to 10 months to settle an average car accident claim if the injuries are mild to moderate. For serious injuries with permanent or long-term complications, the process can take between 1 and 2 years. That’s not to say that your own lawsuit won’t be settled in under 12 months, but we can say from experience that cases with 6 to 7 figure values take considerable time and effort to resolve. A small percentage of car accident claims end up in trial, ant those cases normally take over 3 years. However, around 95% of claims handled by our attorneys are settled without the need for a trial.

Statute of Limitations to File a Car Accident Lawsuit

Starting from the date of your accident, you normally have 2 years to file an auto accident claim for monetary losses such as medical expenses, property damage, and lost wages. This is true whether you were injured while driving your car or as a pedestrian that was hit by a careless driver.

In the event you were injured by a public entity, like a government employee or agency, you will need to file a claim within 6 months of the accident. This can apply to many different entities, including city departments, public school districts, and contractors hired by the city or county. Keep in mind that the process of suing the government is quite different – and far more complicated – than suing a private entity. Help from an experienced personal injury lawyer is highly recommended, which we can provide you with here at Normandie Law Firm.

Legal Advice from a Car Accident Lawyer

Being in a car accident has devastating consequences for your physical and emotional health, not to mention, your finances. That’s why legal representation is crucial if someone else’s conduct is the reason you are injured. To ensure that you obtain compensation from the negligent party, we will provide you with free legal services if you decide to go ahead with a lawsuit. We have a Zero Fee Guarantee, where the cost of legal fees is charged to the defendant and paid to us at the same time as your settlement check. In other words, recovering your payment is the only way we get paid, and you will never receive a bill from us if we don’t win your case.

Contact us today and talk to a lawyer who can help you sue for a shoulder injury or any other health issues that were caused by a car accident.

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