Shoulder Injuries
Rockford Shoulder Injury Lawyer
It’s fair to say that the shoulder is somewhat overlooked in terms of important parts of the body. Most people are aware of the critical role that an area like the spine plays in physical health, but the shoulder does far more work than you may realize. Of course, in the aftermath of a shoulder injury, you’ll suddenly be very aware of how badly you need your shoulders, and how much they do for you throughout the day. To consider legal action in a shoulder injury case, turn to Rockford personal injury attorney Paul M. Marriett for a free consultation.
How Do Shoulder Injuries Occur?
The common causes of shoulder injuries are going to depend on the type of injury in question. Some injuries are caused by a sudden trauma, such as what might occur in a car or truck crash. If the arm is in the wrong position and it is suddenly forced to move by the impact of a crash, shoulder damage could be the result (along with many other likely injuries).
It doesn’t have to be a sudden trauma that leads to your shoulder problems, however. It could also be the case that a repetitive stress injury develops over time and leaves you with significant shoulder issues that hamper your quality of life. Doing the same work, in the same manner, for years on end can leave you with shoulder issues that can only be solved through surgery and ongoing rehabilitation.
What types of shoulder injuries are there?
We’ve handled cases from torn labrum injuries, torn rotator cuff injuries, to major shoulder separation, shoulder dislocations, shoulder blade fractures, and fractured collarbones. All of which provide support, strength, and flexibility to that area of the body. When certain parts of the shoulder are stretched, dislocated, or separated, fixing the immediate injury may not allow these parts to sufficiently heal without surgical intervention. While the first step after an injury is to take the least minimally invasive path as possible to regain your health, sometimes physical therapy, massage, rest, ice/heat, and time will not be enough to regain the full health of your shoulder. Physical therapy associated with a shoulder injury can be grueling and there is no guarantee that the full function of the associated part of the shoulder will come back to its full-strength post-surgery.
Who is to Blame for Your Shoulder Problems?
When you find yourself encountering a difficult shoulder injury, it’s worth asking the question of who is responsible for these issues. What happened that led to your shoulder feeling the way it does? Do you suspect a repetitive stress issue, or have you recently been in an accident that caused the harm? Either way, you’ll want to work to identify the party that is to blame for your situation.
Once you identify the party that has been negligent in this case, you can think about filing a suit to seek damages for your injury. If you were hurt in an automobile accident when your vehicle was hit by a work truck operating for a business, you may be able to pursue that business for compensation. This is just one of countless possible examples, of course, so you’ll want to work with a personal injury lawyer to consider all of the potential parties that could be at fault.
Explore These Possible Types of Damages
Personal injury cases make it possible for victims to recover many different forms of damages when they win the judgment. The point of these damages is to “make whole” the victim after what they have experienced – in other words, the idea is that the financial compensation will help the victim return to the state they were in prior to the incident, or at least as close to that state as possible. Also, damages can compensate the victim for what they have had to go through along the way due to the negligence of another party.
Pain & Suffering Compensation – this first point speaks to what we noted above – it’s the category of damages that accounts for the victim having to deal with this incident in their life. Rather than continuing going about day-to-day life, the victim has been forced to get medical care, miss work, go through rehab treatments, and more. It can be a long road back from a shoulder injury or any other type of physical damage, so the responsible party should be made to pay.
Medical Bills – with the often-astronomical costs of medical care today, this is typically one of the largest categories for compensation. In a just outcome, the responsible party will be made to pay all of the medical bills that the victim has incurred, leaving them to pay nothing to the hospital and other medical facilities that have provided treatment along the way.
Lost Wages & Future Wages – there are two ways that wages can play into the math in a personal injury case. For one thing, there are the wages that are missed when a person can’t work due to their shoulder injury. If you miss a couple of months while healing up, those lost wages should be included in the damages. Also, future lost wages can be factored into the case if the victim will never be able to get back to their previous earnings level as a result of the harm.
Don’t Trust the Insurance Company
Insurance companies make it a point to take advantage of people who are hurt and looking for something to go right. When they become aware that a personal injury case may be brewing because of a shoulder injury, the insurance company won’t sit back and just wait to see what happens. Instead, they are going to get to work right away building a defense in the case and trying to find ways to make it go away as a potential liability.
One way they can make the risk of a lawsuit go away is by offering a small settlement to the party that has been injured. To an individual who is dealing with shoulder pain and is trying to figure out what to do next, an offer from the insurance company might seem like good news – even if it is less than what you were hoping to receive. Accepting this offer quickly is just playing into their hands, however.
Contact A Rockford Shoulder Injury Attorney For Help
A wide variety of accidents and other traumas can lead to a shoulder injury, and that injury may have the potential to linger for years. Don’t deal with the aftermath of your injury alone if someone else was responsible for what happened. The Law Office of Paul M. Marriett would be happy to speak with you in a free consultation to learn more about your situation and help you understand the types of compensation that may be available. Reach out today to learn more, you can call or text message us 24/7/365 at 815-391-0089, reach us securely through our home page, or email Paul directly at paul@marriettlegal.com for assistance. Contact a top rated and reviewed personal injury lawyer in Rockford, IL TODAY for help!