The Complications of a Shoulder Dislocation
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer. When people think about joints, they think about the bones of the body that move along, across, or around another bone. While there are many types of joints, a ball and socket joint provides the most range of motion out of all of the different classifications of joints. This also means that ball and socket joints, such as the shoulder, are prone to suffering a dislocation.
Auto Accidents can Cause a Shoulder Dislocation
No matter what type of car accident occurs, people in a car accident can suffer medical injuries. If one car t-bones another, the driver or passenger of the car can suffer a significant force at the shoulder, leading to a shoulder dislocation. Depending on the angle of the force, this dislocation can occur in different directions. A force from behind can lead to an anterior dislocation while a force from the front could cause a posterior dislocation. Because of the many different ways a dislocation can occur, a shoulder dislocation is one of the most common injuries caused by car accidents.
Different Complications can Result from a Shoulder Dislocation
It’s no secret that people use their shoulder to perform a wide variety of different actions. People simply need to think about what they use their arms for on a daily basis. All of these different actions rely on different muscles, connective tissue, and bones in and around the shoulder. If the shoulder is dislocated, this means that all of these structures are at risk. For example, for the shoulder to rotate in the manner it does, it requires the muscles that make up the rotator cuff. Therefore, it is common for people to suffer a rotator cuff injury along with the shoulder dislocation.
In addition to the rotator cuff, there is a very important bundle of nerves that runs along the shoulder and upper arm. This is called the brachial plexus and provides motor and sensory function to the arm. If the dislocation is severe, there is a risk of a brachial plexus injury, losing a significant amount of the power to the arm on that side.
These Complications Impact the Prognosis
The prognosis with dislocations of this type are generally very good; however, it depends on the severity of the injury and the complications of the dislocation, if there are any. Anyone who dislocates their shoulder is at a higher risk of suffering a subsequent dislocation when compared to the average person. If there is nerve damage involved, this damage is typically permanent; however, pediatric shoulder injuries tend to regain more of their function than the average person since kids generally heal faster than adults. The prognosis is handled on a case by case basis.
Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer. There are many different causes of a shoulder dislocation and anyone suffering a dislocation should reach out to me at (916) 921-6400 for friendly, free advice. Everyone is also welcome to call my toll-free number at (800) 404-5400.
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Image Credit: By Hellerhoff – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11018029
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