Have you sustained a shoulder injury in an accident? Whether an auto accident, slip and fall, or something else, shoulder injuries can be a common result of such incidences and leave a person with debilitating pain and loss of shoulder use and range of motion. If you have sustained a shoulder injury in an accident, do not just wait for it to go away. This leaves you at needless risk of further injury and having your existing one heal improperly or not at all. These can be chronic issues easily avoidable by seeking immediate medical care right after an accident.
Possible Treatment for Shoulder Injuries
Treatment for shoulder injuries will largely rest on the nature and extent of the shoulder injury you have sustained. You may have sustained whiplash, soft tissue damage, or something like a torn rotator cuff or fracture. No matter what type of shoulder injury you have sustained, go get evaluated by a medical professional. Comply with recommendations for follow-up care. This will help preserve not only your health, but the strength of any personal injury claim you may wish to seek later on in order to gain access to critical compensation to pay for things such as medical bills and other losses incurred as a result of the accident.
A torn rotator cuff can be a common injury sustained in high impact car accidents. The grouping of four muscles that is attaches the humerus to the should blade is the rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is critical for effectively lifting and turning the arm. If you have difficulty moving your shoulder in a certain way, experience pain when you are lying on the injured shoulder, or feel weakness when you try to lift or rotate your arm, then you may have torn your rotator cuff.
Alternatively, you may have fractured the clavicle or humerus in an accident which will not only be painful, but severely limit your ability to move your shoulder. If you shoulder has been prominently swelling, and you have been experiencing substantial pain and a marked decrease in range of motion, then you may have sustained a fractured humerus. An accident may also have led to shoulder dislocation or soft tissue injury.
In order to find out more about treatment options for your shoulder injury, a thorough medical evaluation is first needed. A doctor will examine the problem area and may order imaging tests such as an x ray, MRI, or CT scan to help properly diagnose the injury. As far as treatment is concerned, your course of treatment will depend on the type of injury you have been diagnosed with. For a fracture, surgery may or may not be necessary. If there has been bone fragmentation, then surgery may be required to insert plates or screws to hold together the fractured area. You may even need to undergo shoulder replacement surgery.
For shoulder dislocation, there are several nonsurgical treatment options in many cases, although surgery may be the best course of treatment in some cases. A doctor may recommend use of a sling and cold backs to aid in the healing process. Furthermore, medication may be prescribed in order to help with pain management.
Many, if not most, shoulder injuries will also likely benefit, in some point in the treatment process, from physical therapy. Physical therapy can help foster the restoration of motion, as well as strength and flexibility in the shoulder and surrounding areas.
Personal Injury Attorney
If you have sustained a shoulder injury in an accident caused by the negligence of someone else, you want the dedicated personal injury team at Hunt Law on your side. We remain committed to fighting for our clients’ right to receive full monetary compensation for the harm they have sustained in an accident. Contact us today.