i was attacked by a dog and broke my ulna bone..plus i was pulled and hurt my shoulder...almost a year later and still have alot of pain in shoulder...doctor did a number of tests..mri's etc...he says it will get better...i have my doubts...i also never had this problem until the dog attack..the insurance company is trying to say the shoulder injury is due to me being 55..[yes i have a claim towards the dogs owner]...who do i believe...is my shoulder injury cause of age...can they prove that it is/isn't in court.. my lawyer don't say much..or at least in terms that i understand..
Answer by TeddyTrisha
Any injury like this can have knock-on effects. If your arm was pulled, it will have caused trauma to several areas. The insurance companies always do this sort of thing. Stick to your guns. Your medical records before the attack will prove you had no problems before this event. The pain may be due to over- compensatory use ... you try to protect the injured part and then put stress on another part that is not often used. Keep away from dogs.. I think it will get better. Rest and gentle exercise is best.
Answer by Robsteriark
Yes, it's a common cause for rotator cuff injuries.
Rotator cuff problems are always painful far out of proportion to the damage done and always take a long while to heal, your age also means that you heal far more slowly than you used to. The injury will improve over time, but treatment by a good physiotherapist or chiropractor can considerably speed up the process.
For the insurer to simply claim that you have the injury due to your age is utter nonsense and is raw ageism. The vast majority of 55 year olds do not have impaired or restricted rotator cuff motion. If they do, it's not normal for it to be accompanied by pain. There's a difference between painful impingement caused by trauma or underlying pathology (such as arthritis) and normal impingement caused at almost any age by muscular atrophy due to lack of exercise.
You should stick to your guns, remain confident and perhaps insist upon having a more communicative lawyer.
Answer by Richard C
Cathy, first off don't doubt your doctor. He or she has seen more of this type of injury than you can imagine. The body has strong recuperative powers. As for the question of the rotator cuff causing an impingement syndrome it is like asking which came first. One of the things that you probably had done was an x-ray. This film will show what kind of acromial bridge you have. There are 3 types and these determine the more likeliness of an impingement. It is possible for weakness in the rotator cuff to cause a spur to develop as the humeral head will not track properly. This will allow the humeral head to bounce against the bridge thus creating the spur and impingement. Most of us do develop degenerative changes as we age but for your case the question is if you had a problem before the incident. If there is no history of problems then you can easily point to this incident for the problem. The insurance company will counter this by stating that the onset of this impingement could not have occurred in the time frame that has been set out. Your lawyer will counter that by stating it doesn't matter. If there was a pre-existing condition this incident exacerbated it. If there was no condition then this incident had to be the cause of the problem. So in either case it doesn't matter as you either had no problem before and now you do. Or if you had a problem before this incident has driven up the level of dysfunction to a much higher point that you are now having difficulty in your daily activities that are now reduced due to the trauma that has occurred. The lawyer and the insurance company will come to an agreement. The lawyer will tell you that this is the best that can be gotten from this because if you go to court a jury may not find for you. The question becomes one of what is going to make up the jury panel in your area. If you live in a liberal area the chances are that the settlement will be larger. If you live in a conservative area it will be smaller. The difference being that one group will look at the fact that you are in pain and will feel that the insurance company has deep pockets and should pay for this. The other side will look at this as you are walking around and are not crippled. It is a crap shoot either way and your lawyer should be able to guide you as to which kind of area you are in. It will greatly affect the way the case is handled.
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