[4] Depending on the nature of the damage, the paralysis can either resolve on its own over a period of months, necessitate rehabilitative therapy, or require surgery.

[9][10] The signs of Erb's palsy include loss of sensation in the arm and paralysis and atrophy of the deltoid, biceps, and brachialis muscles.

[6] "The position of the limb, under such conditions, is characteristic: the arm hangs by the side and is rotated medially; the forearm is extended and pronated.

[7] The resulting biceps damage is the main cause of this classic physical position commonly called "waiter's tip".

Injury may also occur as the result of direct violence, including gunshot wounds and traction on the arm, or attempting to diminish shoulder joint dislocation.

Treatment such as physiotherapy, massage and electrical stimulation can help to prevent this early on (or throughout) the patient's life by strengthening the arm.

Other types of pain that people with Erb's palsy might experience include muscle strain, stiffness, circulatory issues, and cramping.

Although range of motion is recovered in many children under one year in age, individuals who have not yet healed after this point will rarely gain full function in their arm and may develop arthritis.

[citation needed] The renowned British obstetrician William Smellie is credited with the first medical description of an obstetric brachial plexus palsy.

In his 1768 treatise on midwifery, he reported a case of transient bilateral arm paralysis in a newborn after difficult labour.

[citation needed] In 1861, Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne coined the term "obstetric palsy of the brachial plexus" after analyzing four infants with paralysis of identical muscles in the arm and shoulder, after publishing his initial findings in 1855.

[15] Notable individuals with Erb's palsy include Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, King of Prussia,[16] the Palestinian psychiatrist Samah Jabr, and the Canadian journalist Barbara Frum.