Shoulder, Hip and Knee Pain After a Car Accident

Clinically reviewed by Dr. Seth Hill, DC, President, Auto Injury Chiropractic. Last reviewed October 2026. Editorial policy

Short answer

Shoulder, hip and knee pain after a car accident often comes from strained muscles, sprained ligaments or a bruised joint. The seat belt, the steering wheel and the dashboard can all load a joint in a crash. We examine the joint and your spine, X-ray on site when needed, and treat with chiropractic care, licensed massage and rehab.

How a car accident hurts your shoulders, hips and knees

When the car stops suddenly, your body keeps moving. Whatever holds you back, and whatever you brace against, sends force through your joints. Here is where that force often goes.

  • Seat belt and shoulder. The shoulder belt does its job by holding your upper body in place. The same strap can bruise and strain the shoulder and collarbone it crosses.
  • Bracing on the steering wheel. Many drivers lock their arms on the wheel when they see a crash coming. The impact then runs up through the wrists, elbows and shoulders.
  • Knee into the dashboard. In a frontal crash, a bent knee can strike the dashboard area. Crash-lab tests that load a bent knee this way show the hip is the weakest part of the knee, thigh and hip chain.6 So a knee that hits the dash means the hip needs checking too.
  • Hip and pelvis loading. The lap belt holds your pelvis, and your feet push hard into the floor or the brake pedal. That force loads the hips, the pelvis and the low back.
  • Feet on the pedals. Bracing on the brake can strain the ankle and the knee. Turning awkwardly as you climb out of the car can sprain them too.
  • Side impacts. The door and the side of the car can strike the shoulder, hip or knee closest to them.

Joints also get hurt at work, in a fall or during sports. The exam, the plan and the phases of healing are the same.

Hurt in a crash and not sure what is injured? Call the clinic nearest you or book online for an exam.

Signs your joint was hurt

Watch for any of these in the days after a crash:

  • Pain when you lift your arm, reach behind you or lie on that side
  • Pain with stairs, squatting, kneeling or getting in and out of the car
  • Swelling, bruising or warmth around the joint
  • Stiffness, or a joint that won’t move as far as it used to
  • Weakness, clicking or catching

Pain often shows up late. Adrenaline masks pain at the scene, and swelling builds over hours and days. It’s common to feel fine after the crash and wake up sore one to three days later.

Some joint pain starts somewhere else. Shoulder pain can come from your neck after whiplash, and hip pain can come from your low back. That’s one reason we check your spine as well as the joint. Pain between the shoulder blades is a different problem; see shoulder blade pain.

If a joint still hurts a day or two after the crash, book an exam at the clinic nearest you.

When to get emergency care or imaging first

Go to an emergency room or call 911 if:

  • A joint or limb looks bent or out of place.
  • You can’t put weight on your leg, or you can’t lift your arm at all.
  • Swelling around a joint is getting bigger fast.
  • Your hand or foot below the injury is numb, or the skin turns pale, blue or cold.
  • A joint is hot, red and swollen and you have a fever or chills.
  • Your calf is painful, red, warm or swollen. This can be a blood clot.

Also go to an emergency room or call 911 first if you have severe head or neck pain, weakness or numbness on one side, confusion, repeated vomiting, loss of consciousness, or loss of bladder or bowel control. We see you after the emergency care.

Tell us right away, so we can image the joint before hands-on treatment, if:

  • Your knee, hip or ankle has locked, caught or given way since the crash.
  • Your shoulder feels loose or has slipped out of place.
  • The soft hollow on the thumb side of your wrist hurts when you press it. A small wrist bone can break even when an early X-ray looks normal.

How we check. Your chiropractor tests the joint’s motion, strength, ligaments and nerves, and checks your spine. All three clinics have on-site digital X-ray. We X-ray when your exam shows a reason to, not every patient by default. If your exam points to a tear or another injury an X-ray can’t show, we refer you for an MRI or to an orthopedic specialist, and we coordinate your care with them.

Not sure if your symptoms need imaging? Call the clinic nearest you and tell the front desk what you’re feeling.

Your first visit

Your first visit takes about an hour. It follows the same five steps at all three clinics:

  1. Consultation. We ask how the crash happened, where you hurt and about your health history.
  2. Exam. Range of motion, nerve, muscle and joint testing for the injured joint and your spine. Every auto-injury exam also includes a concussion screen.
  3. X-ray, if your exam calls for it. On site, the same day.
  4. Your written plan. You leave with a written treatment plan before you go: how often to come in, what treatment to expect and what to do at home.
  5. First treatment. In most cases, treatment starts the same day.

Complete your new-patient forms online before the visit at forms.autoinjurychiropractic.com (about 15 minutes), or arrive 10 minutes early and fill them out in the office. Same-day visits are available when the schedule allows. More about what a car accident chiropractor does.

How a car accident chiropractor treats joint injuries

Your plan follows our four Phases of Care. Hands-on care for the joint and the spine, licensed massage and rehab exercise work together. Early on, we use passive care such as E-stim, therapeutic ultrasound and massage to calm pain and muscle guarding, always alongside adjustments and rehab, never on its own. The phases are the framework, not the schedule: your re-exams decide when you move on.

Phase 01: Inflammation (the first 72 hours)

The goal is to calm pain and swelling and protect the injured tissue.

  • E-stim (interferential current, and TENS when needed) to ease pain and muscle guarding
  • Therapeutic ultrasound when your exam calls for it
  • Soft-tissue work and therapeutic massage with our licensed massage therapists
  • Gentle mobilization or adjustment of the joint and the spine, as much as you can comfortably tolerate
  • Protected motion: gentle movement within comfort, so the joint doesn’t stiffen

Visits are more frequent in this phase.

Phase 02: Repair (72 hours to 12 weeks)

Most soft-tissue healing happens here. The goal is to restore motion and joint function.

  • Joint mobilization and adjustments to restore motion
  • Continued soft-tissue work and massage as your exam calls for it
  • Kinesiotaping to support the joint as you start using it more, when your provider recommends it
  • Range-of-motion and stabilization exercise, in the clinic and at home
  • Passive care tapers off as active rehab takes over

Visits usually start at 2 to 3 a week and taper to 1 to 2 a week as your findings improve.

Phase 03: Remodel (12 weeks to 12 months)

The tissue keeps maturing under load long after the pain eases. The goal is strength and durable function.

  • Progressive strengthening, such as band work, step-ups, squats and carries
  • Balance and control work for the hip, knee and ankle
  • Return to the things you need to do: lifting, stairs, driving, work tasks and sport
  • Adjustments as needed, with visits tapering toward independence

Phase 04: Living Your Highest Lifestyle

After active care ends, you keep your home program and come in as needed, with periodic re-checks. We tell you plainly whether your findings are back to normal or whether some change is permanent and needs ongoing care.

What the research says

  • Hands-on care for joints. A UK evidence report found manipulation and mobilization effective for several extremity joint conditions, meaning joints of the arms and legs.1
  • Exercise plus manual therapy for the shoulder. In a review of trials in adults with shoulder impingement, exercise reduced pain more than treatment without exercise. Adding manual therapy to exercise reduced pain more than exercise alone at the shortest follow-up, and taping reduced pain more than sham taping.2
  • Early exercise for sprains. In a trial of 101 people with a mild to moderate ankle sprain, starting therapeutic exercise in the first week improved ankle function in the first two weeks more than standard rest, ice, compression and elevation.3
  • Massage. A review of 67 trials found massage therapy reduced pain compared with no treatment.4
  • Electrical stimulation. A review of 381 trials found pain was lower during or right after TENS, a common form of electrical stimulation, than with a placebo.5

We combine these treatments and match them to your phase of healing. To start your plan, call the clinic nearest you or book online.

Home exercises between visits

Your provider shows you which exercises to do and when. Our free Home Exercise Library has step-by-step programs with photos and demonstration videos:

Each program has four stages: Calm and Move, Control and Mobility, Build Strength, and Return to Activity. Your provider moves you to the next stage based on your re-exam, not the calendar. Stage 1 fits the first days after an injury (Inflammation and early Repair). Stages 2 and 3 cover the Repair phase, which can last up to 12 weeks, and lead into Remodel. Stage 4 carries you through Remodel and into Living Your Highest Lifestyle.

The exercises are for education and don’t replace an exam. Get checked by a provider before you start.

How long joint injuries take to heal

It depends on which joint was hurt and how badly. At your first exam we measure the injury and write your visit plan. For a moderate injury, active care usually runs 8 to 12 weeks: 2 to 3 visits a week at first, tapering to 1 or 2 a week as you heal. Complex cases can take up to 6 months, and the tissue keeps remodeling for up to a year.

If you also have whiplash, our doctors follow the Croft treatment guidelines for your neck. Those guidelines set the most visits for each grade of injury; they are maximums, not a prescription, and many patients need fewer.

We re-examine you along the way. Your re-exams decide when visits taper and when you’re released from care. Feeling better is a milestone, not the finish line, so finish your plan.

Questions about your timeline? Ask your provider at your next visit, or call the clinic nearest you.

Paying for joint injury care

After a car accident in Oregon. Every Oregon auto policy includes Personal Injury Protection (PIP). PIP pays reasonable and necessary medical expenses from your own policy, at least $15,000 per person, for care within two years of the crash, no matter who caused it (ORS 742.520, 742.524). We bill your PIP claim directly and verify your coverage before your first visit. If PIP runs out or is denied and you have an attorney, care can often continue on a lien. More: Oregon PIP coverage.

Hurt at work. Oregon workers’ compensation can cover your care. A chiropractor can be your attending physician for 60 days or 18 visits from your first visit, whichever comes first (ORS 656.005(12)(b)(B); OAR 436-010-0210). After that, we keep treating you on referral from your attending physician.

Other injuries. Commercial health insurance covers care for shoulder, hip and knee injuries that didn’t come from a crash. Your plan’s deductible, copay and visit limits still apply, so we verify your benefits before your first visit.

Call the clinic nearest you, and the front desk will check your coverage before you come in.

Common questions

Can a chiropractor help shoulder, hip or knee pain after a car accident?

Often, yes. Many crash-related joint injuries are strains, sprains and bruising. We treat them with joint mobilization or adjustments, licensed massage and rehab exercise. A UK evidence report found manipulation and mobilization effective for several extremity joint conditions.1 Your exam comes first, and if you need imaging or a specialist, we refer you.

Do I need an X-ray or MRI for joint pain after a crash?

Not always. Your exam decides. All three clinics have on-site digital X-ray, used when your findings call for it. If we suspect a tear or another injury an X-ray can’t show, we refer you for an MRI or to an orthopedic specialist.

Why does my knee or shoulder hurt more days after the accident?

Adrenaline masks pain at the scene, and swelling builds over hours and days. It’s common to feel fine at first and wake up sore one to three days later. Get checked even if the pain seems minor.

Should I rest a sore joint or keep it moving?

Gentle, protected movement is part of early care for most sprains and strains, once your exam rules out a fracture, dislocation or tear that needs protecting first. In a trial of mild to moderate ankle sprains, people who started therapeutic exercise in the first week had better ankle function over the next two weeks than people given standard rest, ice, compression and elevation.3 Your provider tells you how much to do and which exercises to start.

How long does a joint injury take to heal after a car accident?

It depends on the joint and how badly it was hurt. For a moderate injury, active care usually runs 8 to 12 weeks, starting at 2 to 3 visits a week and tapering to 1 or 2. Complex cases can take up to 6 months, and the tissue keeps remodeling for up to a year. Re-exams decide when visits taper and when you’re released.

Will Oregon PIP pay for treatment of joint pain after a car accident?

Usually. Oregon PIP pays reasonable and necessary medical expenses from your own auto policy, at least $15,000 per person, for care within two years of the crash (ORS 742.520, 742.524). We verify your coverage and bill PIP directly.

Auto Injury Chiropractic

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Return to a pain-free life.

Related reading

References

  1. Bronfort G, Haas M, Evans R, Leininger B, Triano J. Effectiveness of manual therapies: the UK evidence report. Chiropr Osteopat. 2010;18:3. doi:10.1186/1746-1340-18-3. PMID 20184717.
  2. Steuri R, Sattelmayer M, Elsig S, et al. Effectiveness of conservative interventions including exercise, manual therapy and medical management in adults with shoulder impingement: a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51(18):1340-1347. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096515. PMID 28630217.
  3. Bleakley CM, O’Connor SR, Tully MA, et al. Effect of accelerated rehabilitation on function after ankle sprain: randomised controlled trial. BMJ. 2010;340:c1964. doi:10.1136/bmj.c1964. PMID 20457737.
  4. Crawford C, Boyd C, Paat CF, et al. The impact of massage therapy on function in pain populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials: Part I, patients experiencing pain in the general population. Pain Med. 2016;17(7):1353-1375. doi:10.1093/pm/pnw099. PMID 27165971.
  5. Johnson MI, Paley CA, Jones G, Mulvey MR, Wittkopf PG. Efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for acute and chronic pain in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 381 studies (the meta-TENS study). BMJ Open. 2022;12(2):e051073. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051073. PMID 35144946.
  6. Rupp JD, Schneider LW. Injuries to the hip joint in frontal motor-vehicle crashes: biomechanical and real-world perspectives. Orthop Clin North Am. 2004;35(4):493-504, vii. doi:10.1016/j.ocl.2004.05.005. PMID 15363924.