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Hip Pain After Car Accident? Here’s What to Do

Table of Contents

  1. Common Hip Injuries Following Car Accidents 
  2. Always Seek Immediate Medical Attention for Hip Pain After a Car Accident 
  3. Contact a Personal Injury Attorney
  4. Pain in Your Hip Joints After an Accident? Contact The Brown Firm Today 

Hip pain is a common symptom after a car accident. While some hip injuries produce obvious, intense pain immediately after the impact, others may start out as dull aches that worsen over time. 

Either way, it’s important to understand the steps you need to take if you experience any kind of hip pain after a crash, from mild to severe. By making smart decisions about your health, as well as your interactions with the insurance company, you can significantly improve your chances of a successful long-term outcome—physically, mentally, and financially. 

At The Brown Firm, our car accident attorneys in Atlanta, Savannah, and throughout Georgia and South Carolina help injured drivers bounce back from hip pain and get the fair compensation they deserve from the at-fault parties. Read on to learn more about what you can do after suffering a hip injury in a car accident. 

I met with Harry Brown personally and he sat with me for 20 minutes at our initial consultation to explain everything. He even called after my surgery to see how I was doing. I met with him several more times after that and was kept informed about my case throughout. I highly recommend Harry Brown as an attorney.

STEVEN SWEENY, SAVANNAH 

Common Hip Injuries Following Car Accidents 

Some of the most common hip injuries faced by car accident victims include: 

  • Hip dislocation: A car crash can push the head of the thigh bone (femur) out of the hip socket and even tear some of the surrounding soft tissues. This might happen, for example, if your knee slammed into the dashboard after the collision and the blunt force trauma pops the thigh bone out of the hip joint. A hip dislocation is a serious injury that’s often accompanied by severe pain and difficulty moving the leg. Numbness is also possible if nerves have been damaged. 
  • Hip fracture: The symptoms of a broken hip can vary depending on the location and severity of the fracture. While a severe hip fracture can mean excruciating pain and inability to put weight on the affected leg, a stress fracture might not hurt much at first—but can easily get worse over time without a proper diagnosis and treatment. 
  • Hip bursitis: Like many other joints throughout your body, the hip joint is cushioned and lubricated by fluid-filled sacs called bursae. If the bursae become inflamed and irritated, the result is sharp pain across the outer thigh, particularly after prolonged exercise, at night, or when getting up from a chair. 
  • Hip labral tear: This injury involves tearing of the ring of cartilage that surrounds the hip socket where it meets the head of the thigh bone. A labral tear often results in pain and stiffness in the hip, groin, and buttocks, particularly after exercise. You may also here a clicking noise. 
  • Soft tissue injuries: Soft tissue inflammation or tearing in hip muscles, tendons (which connect muscles to bones), or ligaments (which connect bones to other bones) are also common and may result in mild to severe hip pain and joint instability, depending on the severity of the injury. 
  • Nerve pain: A car accident can lead to a pinched nerve in the hip. Common symptoms include tingling, burning, or shooting pain throughout the hips, legs, and buttocks. You might also experience some muscle weakness if motor nerves were also damaged. 

RELATED POST: Are Car Accidents A Leading Cause of Broken Bones? 

hip pain after car accident
hip pain after car accident

Always Seek Immediate Medical Attention for Hip Pain After a Car Accident 

We cannot say this enough: We strongly urge any person experiencing hip pain after a car accident (or any other symptoms in any other part of body) to visit a doctor for a complete physical examination as soon as possible. 

This is true even if your symptoms seem mild or you feel like you can “walk it off.” No amount of hip pain is “too small” to be concerned about. There are two major reasons for this: 

1. Delayed Injuries and Pain 

While some hip injuries (like an acetabular fracture of the hip socket, for example) are obviously severe the instant they occur, others produce only delayed pain. 

A stress fracture or a hip injury that affects soft tissue, for example, might initially produce only mild stiffness and soreness. But if you continue to walk on your injured hip and delay medical treatment, the pain can gradually worsen over the coming days and weeks. 

Being proactive and seeking appropriate treatment right away can help you catch and deal with these hip injuries early. Wait too long, and all of a sudden you’re dealing with a much bigger, harder-to-treat problem. In the worst case scenario, hip pain that could have been addressed in a few weeks or months through conservative therapies like steroid injections and physical therapy may now lead to long-term complications and require longer treatment timetables, or even surgery. 

RELATED POST: What To Do After Suffering A Broken Bone In A Personal Injury Accident 

2. Your Personal Injury Claim 

If you ultimately decide to seek compensation from the at-fault driver (and their insurance company) to pay for your current medical bills, future medical expenses, lost wages, reduced future earning capacity, and other damages, you’ll need strong evidence linking your hip injury directly to the auto accident that caused it. 

The best way to ensure you have that evidence is by seeking medical care as soon as possible (ideally within one or two days) after your car accident. This tells the insurance company (and, if your case goes to trial, a judge and jury) a few important things: 

  • The car accident was (or is highly likely to be) the direct, necessary cause of your injury 
  • Your injuries are meaningful and you took them seriously 

The earlier you start to generate medical records after the crash, the harder it will be for the insurance company to argue that your injuries were unrelated to the accident, or are not as serious as you claim them to be. Another tip: make sure you continue to follow all your doctor’s treatment recommendations along the way, as blowing off their advice not only leads to more medical problems but can also weaken your personal injury claim. 

Remember, the insurance company is not your friend, nor is the insurance adjuster they sent to evaluate your claim. They are looking for any argument they can plausibly defend to doubt, discredit, diminish, or deny your personal injury claim. Their interest is in saving money for themselves, not ensuring you get fair compensation for your hip injury. 

Related Article

Drunk Driving Accidents: Building a Strong Case to Hold Intoxicated Drivers Liable

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney 

Whether you’re dealing with hip pain or any other kind of post-accident injury, contacting a personal injury lawyer for a free consultation as soon as possible after your accident can go a long way toward maximizing any settlement or trial verdict you might be entitled to. 

Here are some concrete ways that an attorney can help you. 

Ensure You Get the Expert Medical Care You Need For Your Hip Injury 

A good attorney isn’t only interested in getting you a big financial payout. They want to help you recover physically and emotionally, and rebuild your life as best you can. As a former medical practitioner himself, our founding attorney (and licensed chiropractor) Harry Brown takes this part very seriously. 

We can help connect you with the right specialists in Atlanta, Savannah, or wherever you live and ensure you get the support you need to keep those important appointments. 

Thoroughly Investigate Your Personal Injury Claim 

As we mentioned above, insurance companies are in the business of limiting or denying claims, not paying them out. That’s how they make their money. 

If you want to get a fair settlement, simply proving that your hip pain is directly related to the accident is only one part of the equation. You’ll also have to prove that the other driver (or any other potentially liable parties, such as a trucking company) were responsible. That takes careful presentation of detailed evidence—something you probably aren’t eager to do yourself, particularly if you’re still suffering from hip pain and have no experience with the legal system. 

An experienced car accident attorney knows how to investigate a case. Depending on your circumstances, that might include gathering information at the scene, following up with eyewitnesses, securing any dash cam footage that might be available, and even speaking with expert witnesses in the medical, traffic, or accident reconstruction fields. 

Especially in those cases where the other driver is being less than fully truthful, hiring an expert who knows how and where to look for clues, and establish a winning case, is invaluable. 

RELATED CLIENT STORY: The Brown Firm Uses Police Footage for Settlement Demand 

Handle Negotiations on Your Behalf 

It’s unfortunate, but many accident victims end up costing themselves a big chunk of cash simply due to inexperience or preventable mistakes. A few common examples of what can happen. 

  • You agree to give a recorded statement to the insurance adjuster, offer unrequested information, or unintentionally provide answers that could be interpreted as contradictory. The insurance company then twists these words to sabotage your claim. 
  • You make mistakes when filing, miss key deadlines, or commit other preventable errors that could result in your claim being completely thrown out. 
  • You don’t know how to calculate a full, fair settlement amount for your hip injury, so you end up settling for far less than you truly deserve. 

By handing off your case to an attorney, you not only get the peace of mind from knowing that your legal case is in good hands, but you can also refocus on what really matters: getting yourself back to full health. 

RELATED POST: Should I Take the First Settlement Offer in My Injury Case? 

hip pain after car accident
hip pain after car accident

Pain in Your Hip Joints After an Accident? Contact The Brown Firm Today 

Our experienced personal injury lawyers have years of experience helping injured individuals get the care they need to make complete physical, emotional, and financial recoveries after their car accidents. 

To request your free consultation, contact our law firm today by calling (800) 529-1441 or completing our online contact form. We serve residents throughout Georgia and South Carolina from our conveniently located offices in Atlanta, Savannah, and elsewhere.  

 

 

The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject. 

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