If you are suffering from arm pain after a car accident, you could have sustained one or more injuries to your muscles, bones, nerves, or another part. You should see a doctor right away for diagnosis and treatment. Then you can also work with a lawyer to pursue compensation for your injury.
Common Arm Injuries After Car Accidents
The violent impact of a car accident can throw around both your body and any loose objects in the car. Even if you were wearing your seatbelt properly, you could end up hurting your arm if:
- Your arm gets flung into a hard object, such as a door
- A loose object hits your arm
- Your arm becomes trapped by loose objects or by the damaged car
These types of events could lead to injuries such as the following:
- Muscle strains or sprains: Your muscles are only designed to do so much work and move in so many directions. An accident impact can push them beyond their limits, causing soreness, stiffness, and pain.
- Bone fractures: If the impact of an accident is forceful enough, it could fracture, or “break,” the bones in your fingers, hands, or arms. Fractures can be very serious and take weeks, months, or longer to heal.
- Bone bruises: According to Cleveland Clinic, bone bruises are typically less serious than bone fractures; however, they can still be very painful and require medical attention.
- Cuts and lacerations: Sharp objects, like broken glass, could cut your skin at any place on your arm. A very deep cut, or a cut in a sensitive place (e.g., an artery) could be life-threatening.
- Scrapes: Even if the cut is relatively shallow, it can be very painful. If you suffer road rash—that is, if your arm gets scraped along the road’s surface—dirt and other foreign particles could enter the wound and infect it.
- Amputations: In the worst-case scenario, part or all of your arm might be so badly injured that a doctor cannot save it. This would result in permanent disability.
Symptoms of Arm Injuries
The symptoms you experience from an arm injury can vary greatly. It all depends on:
- The injury’s location
- How deep or serious the injury is
- What kind of injury you sustained
- Your overall health (e.g., if you were healthy beforehand, you might heal faster and experience less troublesome symptoms than someone with preexisting conditions)
Arm injury symptoms may include some or all of the following. Be sure to truthfully discuss all symptoms with your treating physician so they know how to help you:
- Pain
- Redness and swelling
- Stiffness
- Soreness
- Loss of range of motion or flexibility
- Tingling or numbness
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After a Car Accident, See a Doctor
It is a good rule of thumb to always see a doctor after any sort of accident. Some injuries may not seem that bad at first, or you may not begin experiencing symptoms until days later. If you wait too long to get medical care, you could:
- End up suffering more than you would have if you had received help promptly
- Endanger your life or long-term health by allowing invisible injuries to go untreated
- See weaker results from medical treatment—as a general rule, the sooner you start treatment, the better the results may be
If you experience serious symptoms (e.g., severe pain, heavy bleeding, a bone breaking through the skin), you should call an ambulance from the accident scene. Otherwise, you can decide for yourself if you want to go to the emergency room or make an appointment with your own doctor.
Either way, receiving treatment promptly is critical not only to protect your health but to:
- Demonstrate a connection between the injury and your accident (any delay in getting treatment could allow the insurer to argue that some other event caused your injuries)
- Start building evidence for if and when you decide to seek compensation for your accident
- Proving that your injuries are every bit as serious—and cost/will cost just as much to treat—as you stated in your lawsuit
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Compensation for Car Accident Arm Injuries
If you are suffering from arm pain after a car accident, you could qualify for the following types of compensation and more:
- Pain and suffering
- Reduced quality of life
- Disability
- Disfigurement
- Medical expenses
- Loss of wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Property damage
Every accident survivor sustains different injuries and therefore requires different types of compensation in different amounts. Calculating how much you deserve can be a complicated process. You might find it easier to let a lawyer handle this task for you to make sure you get enough reimbursement for:
- The money you have already spent or lost
- The money you will probably spend or lose
- The physical and emotional trauma of surviving the accident with arm (and other) injuries
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After a Car Accident, We Can Help
According to CC Art. 3492, you generally have just one year to sue after a car accident injury. If you are suffering from arm pain after a car accident, Laborde Earles can handle your pursuit of compensation while you rest and recover from your injuries.
We can investigate your accident, gather evidence, and negotiate with insurers. Call us today for a free consultation.
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