Maryland Car Accident Victims Can Pursue Compensation For Serious Shoulder Injuries
A sore shoulder after a Maryland car accident can be easy to underestimate. You may expect the pain to disappear after a few days, only to find yourself struggling to lift groceries, reach overhead at work, carry your child, drive, or sleep comfortably at night.
If another driver's negligence caused the crash and your shoulder injury, you may have the right to pursue compensation for your medical expenses, lost income, pain, and other losses. The strength of your claim can depend on proving who caused the collision, connecting the shoulder injury to the crash, and documenting how the injury affects your life.
At Goldberg Finnegan, our Maryland car accident attorneys help injured people build claims based on the full impact of their injuries, not just what an insurance company initially decides they're worth. Shoulder injuries can require months of treatment, physical therapy, injections, or surgery, and some can leave lasting limitations that need to be considered before a claim is resolved.
Crash Forces Can Damage The Shoulder In Several Ways
The shoulder has a wide range of motion, but the muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, bones, and nerves that make that movement possible can be injured by the sudden forces of a collision.
During a crash, the seat belt may restrain one side of the upper body while momentum forces the body forward. A driver may instinctively brace against the steering wheel. An occupant may strike a door, window, dashboard, or other part of the vehicle.
Shoulder injuries can occur in many types of collisions, including:
- Rear-end accidents that suddenly force the body forward and backward.
- Head-on collisions that create substantial forces through the upper body.
- Side-impact crashes that cause the shoulder to strike the door or interior of the vehicle.
- Rollover crashes that subject occupants to multiple impacts and sudden changes in direction.
- Crashes in which an occupant braces for impact with an arm extended.
The injury doesn't always come from a direct blow. Sudden twisting, stretching, or forceful restraint can also damage structures inside and around the shoulder joint.
Common Shoulder Injuries After A Car Accident
Shoulder pain can have many causes, and some injuries aren't immediately obvious after a collision. A medical evaluation may identify injuries such as:
Rotator Cuff Tears
The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that helps stabilize and move the shoulder. A traumatic tear can cause pain, weakness, difficulty lifting the arm, and reduced range of motion. More severe tears may require surgery.
Labral Tears
The labrum is cartilage that helps stabilize the shoulder joint. Trauma can damage this tissue and lead to pain, clicking or catching sensations, weakness, or instability.
Shoulder Dislocations
A forceful impact can push the upper arm bone out of the shoulder socket. Even after the joint is put back into place, surrounding muscles, ligaments, nerves, and other tissues may remain injured.
Fractures
Car accidents can fracture bones around the shoulder, including the collarbone, shoulder blade, or upper arm bone. Serious fractures may require surgery, immobilization, rehabilitation, and an extended recovery.
Soft Tissue Injuries
Sprains, strains, tendon injuries, and other soft tissue damage can cause significant pain and restricted movement even when an initial X-ray doesn't show a broken bone.
Nerve Injuries
Trauma involving nerves around the shoulder and upper body can cause numbness, tingling, weakness, burning pain, or loss of function extending into the arm or hand.
Delayed Shoulder Pain Shouldn't Be Ignored
Not every shoulder injury causes severe pain at the scene of a crash. Symptoms can become more noticeable after the initial shock of the collision wears off or as inflammation and stiffness develop.
Shoulder pain, weakness, limited motion, numbness, or difficulty performing normal activities can all be reasons to seek medical attention. Shoulder pain after a car accident could be a possible sign of a rotator cuff tear or another serious shoulder injury.
Visible vehicle damage doesn't necessarily tell the whole story about an occupant's injuries either. Even when a collision appears relatively minor, a person may later experience significant pain or soft tissue symptoms. That's one reason low-impact crash injuries can become disputed by insurance companies, especially when symptoms weren't fully apparent immediately after the collision.
Waiting too long to get evaluated can create two problems. An untreated shoulder condition may worsen, and an insurance company may later argue that a delay in treatment makes it harder to connect the injury to the crash.
Medical Evidence Can Connect The Shoulder Injury To The Crash
Proving that you have a shoulder injury is only part of a car accident claim. You also need evidence connecting that injury to the collision.
Medical documentation can become especially important when an insurance company argues that shoulder pain came from age, work, sports, a previous injury, or another cause unrelated to the accident.
Evidence may include:
- Emergency room and urgent care records.
- Orthopedic evaluations.
- X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, and other diagnostic testing.
- Physical therapy records.
- Recommendations for injections or surgery.
- Records documenting work restrictions and physical limitations.
- Prior medical records when a preexisting shoulder condition becomes an issue.
Consistent treatment also helps document how the injury progresses. A rotator cuff tear that eventually requires surgery creates a very different picture than temporary soreness that resolves within days. The medical record helps show that difference.
Compensation Can Reflect Long-Term Shoulder Limitations
A Maryland shoulder injury claim shouldn't be valued solely by adding up the medical bills you have today. Serious injuries can create financial and personal losses that continue well into the future.
Depending on the circumstances, compensation may account for:
- Medical Expenses: Emergency treatment, diagnostic imaging, orthopedic care, physical therapy, injections, surgery, medication, and future medical care.
- Lost Income: Wages lost while you can't work or while medical restrictions prevent you from performing your usual job.
- Reduced Earning Capacity: Future income losses when permanent shoulder limitations interfere with your ability to work.
- Pain and Suffering: Physical pain and the broader effect the injury has on your daily life.
- Permanent Limitations: Loss of strength, reduced range of motion, chronic pain, or other lasting impairments.
The effect of a shoulder injury can vary significantly from one person to another. A loss of overhead motion may create very different consequences for a construction worker, nurse, mechanic, parent, office worker, or athlete. A strong claim needs to show what the injury actually changed in that person's life.
Maryland's Contributory Negligence Rule Can Put The Entire Claim At Risk
Proving a serious shoulder injury doesn't automatically guarantee compensation. Maryland's contributory negligence rule can become one of the most important issues in a car accident case.
If an injured person was also negligent and that negligence legally contributed to causing the crash, it can bar recovery. This makes fault evidence especially important in Maryland.
Insurance companies may examine police reports, witness statements, photographs, vehicle damage, traffic-camera footage, cell phone records, and other evidence looking for a basis to shift responsibility.
That rule is one reason crash victims should be careful about making assumptions about fault or giving detailed statements before all the evidence has been reviewed.
Maryland Car Accident Lawsuits Have A Filing Deadline
An injured person also has limited time to bring a lawsuit. Under Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings § 5-101, a civil action generally must be filed within three years from the date it accrues unless another law provides a different deadline.
Waiting until that deadline approaches can make a shoulder injury case harder to build. Crash-scene evidence can disappear, video can be overwritten, witnesses can become difficult to locate, and memories can fade.
Medical treatment may also continue for months before doctors know whether physical therapy will be enough or whether surgery and long-term restrictions will be necessary. Starting the legal process early can help preserve evidence while the full medical picture develops.
A Maryland Car Accident Lawyer Can Protect A Shoulder Injury Claim
Shoulder injuries can affect nearly every part of daily life, from getting dressed and driving to working, sleeping, lifting a child, or reaching into a cabinet. Insurance companies may still try to minimize the injury, dispute its connection to the crash, or push for a settlement before the long-term effects are known.
Our Maryland car accident attorneys at Goldberg Finnegan investigate serious crashes, review medical evidence, preserve proof of fault, and pursue compensation that accounts for both current losses and the future impact of an injury. We represent injured people throughout Silver Spring, Rockville, Gaithersburg, and communities across Maryland.
If another driver's negligence caused your shoulder injury, contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your legal options.
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