Five Common Hand and Arm Injuries From Car Accident Trauma
Last updated Tuesday, April 25th, 2023
If you’ve been in a car accident, you need to be aware of the most common hand and arm injuries you could experience. Are you experiencing thumb pain after a car accident? Have you been diagnosed with a wrist injury after a car accident? It’s more common than you’d think to start feeling some sort of hand pain after a car accident happens.
Wrist pain after car accidents occur may not seem like life or death. However, those types of injuries can and will affect your day-to-day life. Just wait until it’s time to go back to work.
Enduring a hand injury from car accident ordeals can limit the type and amount of work you may ever be able to do again. This situation can be a very big deal. James Murphy, a Georgia car accident attorney at Murphy Personal Injury Law Firm is ready to fight on your behalf.
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1. Broken Bones After Car Accident
Wrists and arms can easily get broken during auto accidents. Drivers grip the steering wheel too tightly. Passengers instinctively reach out to hold onto something with their arms causing damage to their hands. For example, gripping the dashboard to brace for impact can result in a hand injury from a car accident. Unfortunately, bones can simply snap from the force of the collision.
Are you managing extreme hand pain after a car accident? Get those digits checked. Phalanges – the finger bones, and metacarpals – the bones in the palm of the hand, can also break during a wreck.
2. Wrist Injury After Car Accident
The wrist can be sprained, fractured, or broken upon impact. What may start out as mild pain can get serious with time and use. Prevent minor wrist pain after a car accident from turning into a nasty injury or even a deformity. Get medical care!
Sustain a wrist injury after a car accident? As you’re noticing already, your wrist is crucial for doing just about anything with your hands. This includes everyday tasks like washing dishes, driving, taking care of children, and even bathing. That’s not even touching on how much you use your wrist while working.
3. Fractures of your hands, fingers, wrists, knuckles, and arms
…are all too common during impact from a car accident. Serious accidents can also lead to fractures by causing a part of the arm or hand to get crushed.
Another type of wrist injury after a car accident is a scaphoid fracture when one of the small wrist bones breaks. Notice thumb pain after a car accident happens? The culprit could be a gamekeeper’s fracture or a gamekeeper’s thumb, an injured ulnar collateral ligament (UCL).
This is why it’s critical to go to a doctor and get an experienced medical opinion about any pain you’re having.
If you’ve had a break or fracture you may feel numbness and be unable to move normally. Swelling is also possible. If making a fist is hard or painful, then it’s time to go to the doctor.
4. Rotator Cuff Injury
When the area around a shoulder joint is torn, the rotator cuff gets damaged. This is one of the common arm injuries from car accidents that we see.
These hurt ligaments, tendons, and muscles can cause acute pain. You may feel limited in your range of motion, have difficulty sleeping, and notice swelling. Snap, crackle, and pop! No, it’s not for breakfast; it’s injured arms making these sounds as they try to move.
The severity of shoulder injuries varies from person to person. A full rotator cuff tear happens when the tendon is completely torn away from the humerus bone. A partially torn rotator cuff hasn’t completely ripped away from the tendon and is associated with pain with movement.
While dependent on the extent of damage, the good news is that this injury can be treated. The bad news is that if left untreated, the rotator cuff doesn’t generally heal on its own and can lead to chronic pain.
5. Dislocated Joints
The impact of a crash can be so powerful it knocks joints loose. A serious accident can cause dislocation of the shoulder; it can pop out frontwards or backward and lead to serious pain.
Nearby fractures, breaks, and/or sprains often go hand in hand with an accident. Even after a physician reduces the shoulder, or puts it back as it should be, it can take months to heal properly.
Elbow, wrist, and finger dislocations can also occur during a car collision. These hand and arm injuries from car accident occurrences can be painful, require proper medical care, and need healing time.
Need Help for Hand Pain After Car Accident Occurs?
If hand or arm injuries from a car accident appear, get prompt medical attention. Such injuries need a physician’s assessment.
Suffer a simple hand injury from a car accident? Physical therapy, ultrasound therapy, rest, cortisone shots, and wearing a brace or sling may be what is needed. More serious issues need urgent treatment.
Injuries that cannot heal with mild remedies may need one or more surgeries plus recovery time. When a medical consult is skipped, valuable healing time could be wasted; worse yet, the injured body part may never work as it should.
Compensation should cover enough time off from work so you can heal. Insurance companies often offer settlements that only cover partial recovery expenses. An experienced Atlanta car accident attorney can get you the highest possible dollar amount to cover everything from medical bills, loss of income, and pain and suffering caused by the accident.
Legal Tip: While a 20-year-old may be able to quickly recover from injuries sustained in a routine accident, a 50-year-old may not. If you are 50 or older, you’re more likely to encounter orthopedic problems because of a car wreck.
Getting Compensated For Hand Pain After Car Accident
Being in a wreck when someone else was at fault is stressful. Add in wrist pain after a car accident, and things go downhill. Experiencing thumb pain after car accident injuries is bad, not getting a reasonable settlement is worse. Filing a successful claim can make a world of difference for both you and your loved ones.
Hand pain after a car accident? Now Prove It
Suffering hand pain after a car accident occurs is one thing, but proving who was at fault and that your injury is legitimate – is another. Insurance companies do whatever they can to avoid paying you rightful compensation, even smearing the facts.
Certain car wreck injuries like rotator cuff tears and tendonitis can happen as you get older or overuse them. Even the best Atlanta car accident attorney needs to prove these issues resulted from a car accident.
Test results, x-rays, examination reports, and a doctor’s prognosis can all back your claim. Request records that document injuries and recommend treatment for any hand, arm, wrist, or thumb pain after a car accident.
Legal Tip: No matter how much of a hassle it may seem at the time, NEVER skip seeking medical advice after a car accident. You can always get more rest, but you can’t go back in time to change things. See a doctor!
How the Right Atlanta Car Accident Attorney Can Help
Without representation, you face likely defeat from going up alone against massive companies. Enter Murphy Personal Injury Law Firm. Our knowledgeable personal injury lawyers fight for you, not because we have to, but because we want to.
When wrist pain after car accident trauma is felt, your rights and health are in danger. Don’t jeopardize the rest of your life! Our helpful Atlanta car accident attorney team at Murphy Personal Injury Law Firm leaves nothing to chance! We walk you through the entire process and fight for rightful compensation.
