As an accident victim, you should not let an insurance company turn a cold shoulder in the direction of your complaints about a sore shoulder. The soreness that you are experiencing could be a sign that you have become the victim of a soft tissue injury.
What soft tissues may have been injured?
It could have been the ligaments; those connect the bones located at the shoulder joint. Alternately, it could have been the tendons; those connect the muscles to the bones. Either of those tissues could have suffered some type of damage, due to the way that the head jerks back and forth at the time of a collision.
Evidence of a problem in the region of the shoulder might not become apparent until 24 hours after the collision. Various symptoms can serve as evidence that such a problem exists.
Symptoms to expect if shoulder’s tissues have been damaged
Swelling, bruising or redness
Pain when the shoulder remains still
Pain when that same body part (the shoulder) moves.
Weakness demonstrated in the shoulder’s muscles.
Shoulder’s muscles fail to work properly.
Sometimes damage extends beyond the soft tissues. In some cases the nerves get damaged. The last two symptoms on the above list, the weakened or failing shoulder muscles point to the presence of damaged nerves.
Other indications that nerves have been damaged
Pain that starts in one spot later radiates outward to other locations. The radiation pattern copies the pattern exhibited by a poor-functioning network of nerves.
Twitching movements made by muscles in the shoulder; these result from the nerve’s inability to maintain a signal, so that muscular tissues stay in place.
A prickling sensation develops in the region of the damaged nerves.
A tingling can be felt in the region of the damaged nerves.
The skin becomes more sensitive in the affected part of the body. The poor-functioning nerves allow the skin to get exposed to especially harsh conditions.
Other than the pain, the twitching, the prickling sensation, the tingling and the increased skin sensitivity do not appear to signal the presence of a serious problem. Yet any person will have trouble dealing with a body part that has poor-functioning nerve tissue. Those two facts help to highlight the degree to which a shoulder’s symptoms can signal a real medical problem.
Ideally, a personal injury lawyer in Richmond Hill that handles personal injury claims has acquired some knowledge of the symptoms associated with a sore shoulder. Armed with such knowledge, the same lawyer could do a better job of seeking proper compensation for any client that suffers with a soreness of that nature. An experienced attorney should understand how to alert a client and an insurer to the possible meaning of such symptoms.