In most cases this injury will not have been caused by a car accident however there is a significant proportion that is a direct result of motor vehicle collisions. Road traffic accidents are a major cause of traumatic injury and represent more than half of all cases handled by personal injury solicitors. If you have been injured in a car accident and you want to make a compensation claim for personal injury and loss just complete the contact form, email our offices or use the solicitor’s helpline. Our car accident compensation claim solicitors offer free advice without further obligation. If we deal with your claim it will be on a no win no fee basis, compensation is paid in full and you do not have to fund or finance your car accident compensation claim.

An arm injury occurs from the shoulder to the fingers and can include the elbow, the wrist and the hand. Injuries can occur to the muscles, the bones, the tendons, the ligaments, and the joints. The major types of arm injuries include:

• Broken bones, including a broken collarbone which is the most common childhood fracture.
• Dislocations of bones, which is most common in the shoulder and elbow.
• Sprains, which are tears and stretching injuries of the ligaments.
• Strains, which are tears and stretches of the muscles themselves.
• Overuse injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome or overuse of the elbow or shoulder.
• Bruising of an affected muscle, which can look black and blue, and be painful to use.
• Bone bruising—this involves a direct bruise to the bone.

Symptoms of arm injuries include pain, (mild, moderate and severe), bruising of the arm, swelling of the affected area, inability to move part of the arm and tenderness to the affected area.

In a shoulder injury, you can get dislocation, separation and direct blow injuries to the shoulders. You can find it difficult to raise the arm above shoulder height. Such injuries are difficult to heal and they are sometimes treated with surgery. A sling is usually what it takes after surgery or without surgery in order to keep the shoulder in a solid position.

In an upper arm injury, you can rupture your biceps tendon so that the muscle bulges in the forearm. This is usually treated with surgery. At the level of the elbow, you can get a sprained elbow, a dislocated elbow or a “tennis elbow”, also called lateral epicondylitis. It happens with repetitive injury of the elbow and is treated with an elbow brace that keeps the lateral epicondyle stable.

The radius and ulna, the two bones in the forearm can easily get fractured during falls in which you reach out to catch yourself. It is usually the distal aspect of these bones that get fractured and the radius gets fractured more commonly than the ulna. The treatment is reduction, if necessary, followed by casting for about six weeks, younger if you are a child.

The wrist itself consists of many small bones that do not easily get fractured. The most common fracture of the wrist is a fracture of the navicular bone, which causes pain and grinding in the joint itself. This heals poorly because there is not enough circulation to this bone to allow it to heal well.

The hand can be fractured or crushed in certain injuries. The metacarpals are relatively well protected by the meat of the hand but the fingers can easily get fractured or dislocated by injury.

The doctor can diagnose arm injuries by doing a careful history and physical examination of the affected area, including areas of tenderness and range of motion. X-rays or MRI scans of the arm can show damage to bones, tendons and muscles and can direct whether or not surgery is necessary. Most arm injuries do not need surgery, with the exception of rotator cuff injuries, elbow fractures and certain hand fractures.

Home treatment of arm injuries is necessary in many cases. You need to apply ice right away to an affected area of injury and rest the arm as much as possible. Playing through injuries only makes them worse. You can apply an ace bandage on the elbow, forearm or wrist and hand in order to keep them stable and ease pain. Keep the arm elevated so as to keep an excess of blood from pooling into the injury. Local heat is used later to help the muscles and tendons heal.

If you have suffered physically, mentally or financially, you should consider making an accident compensation claim. For free telephone advice from specialist personal injury solicitors just call the helpline. Our lawyers will assess the strength of your claim and will advise you on your potential award of compensation without any further obligation.