Recovering Compensation for Chronic Pain and Paralysis
During or after an accident, we often check out bodies for broken bones, cuts, bruises, and head trauma. In the days to come, we might notice sprains or strains and flexibility issues, but often attribute this to soft-tissue damage. What we are not trained to check for is nerve damage, which can often be very subtle. Nerve injury can range in severity from mild, radiating pain that resolves with minimal treatment to debilitating pain that plagues the victim for a lifetime. The most well-known type of nerve damage is paralysis, but it can affect any aspect of your body, from how you senses work to your ability to properly move a body part.
Recovering from a nerve injury can be a difficult, and often costly, process that few are prepared to handle alone. However, if you suffered nerve damage as a result of a negligent individual, you may be entitled to compensation. After you have received medical care, contact the Denver nerve injury attorneys at Tenge Law Firm, LLC to schedule a free consultation. We can review your medical records, accident reports, and all other evidence to pursue a personal injury claim. Call us at (303) 502-5587 to learn how the law can help you.
What Is Peripheral Nerve Damage?
Peripheral neuropathy, or nerve injury, results from damage to the peripheral nerves (outside of the spinal cord and brain). The peripheral nervous system sends signals to your central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) to other body areas, and sensory information from the body to the central nervous system. Symptoms of peripheral nerve damage include stabbing, burning, or tingling pain. Nerve injuries can cause weakness, numbness, and pain, usually in the hands and feet, but it can also affect other areas of the body.
What Are the Leading Causes of Nerve Injury?
Because of the size and delicacy of a nerve, they can be subject to a variety of damage. Trauma, lacerations, and burns can all either harm the structure of a nerve or destroy it entirely, disabling function in that region of the body. Any one of these injuries can occur in a motor vehicle accident. This includes motorcycle crashes and pedestrian accidents, in addition to automobile accidents. Falls are another leading cause of peripheral nerve injuries.
When the upper arm is damaged in an accident, such as a fracture or blunt force trauma, the radial nerve may become damaged. Car crashes can also cause damage to the brachial plexus – the network of nerves that sends messages from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm, and hand. Trauma to the nerves in high-impact slip and fall accidents is another leading cause of nerve injury.
Identifying Nerve Damage
Location and how the nerve was damaged are the primary factors in determining what type nerve injury you are suffering from. In addition, your doctor will need to identify which type of nerves were damaged, which can include motor (muscle movement), sensory (senses), or autonomic (automatic processes of the body) nerves. In some cases, all three may be damaged, resulting in overlapping symptoms, which may include:
- Numbness, prickling, or tingling in the hands or feet, which can spread upwards
- Sharp jabbing, burning, or throbbing pain
- Extreme sensitivity to touch
- Muscle weakness
- Lack of coordination and falling
- Pain from activities that should not cause pain (such as putting weight on the feet)
- Paralysis, if motor nerves are affected
- Feeling as though you are wearing gloves or socks, when you are not
Getting a full medical check-up after an accident is vital to identifying nerve damage. Spinal cord injuries, serious cuts, head trauma, and broken bones can all have similar symptoms to nerve damage. A medical professional can determine whether or not our nerves have been damaged and what the long-term effects will be.
What Are the Consequences of Serious Nerve Damage?
Severe nerve injury often requires surgical treatment that may involve nerve grafting, nerve transfers, or muscle transfers to re-animate affected limbs, leading to extensive medical bills. Additional damages may include chronic pain, rehabilitation, and lost wages, especially if your injuries result in a career change and cause loss of future earning potential. Your noneconomic damages may include physical and emotional pain and suffering and diminished quality of life as you adjust to long-term injuries.
Why You Need a Lawyer
If you have suffered a severe nerve injury in an accident that was someone else’s fault, you will need full compensation for your recovery, both to cover immediate medical bills and the far-reaching consequences of your injuries. Whether your injuries were the fault of a negligent driver or careless property owner, their insurance companies will fight tooth and nail to limit the amount of compensation you will receive. But, when you partner with an experienced and skilled law firm, you will have a higher chance of receiving the compensation you deserve.
At the Tenge Law Firm, LLC, we have decades of experience combatting insurance companies and ensuring our clients receive a fair shot at a full recovery. Our expert team of Denver personal injury attorneys has recovered tens of millions of dollars in settlements, arbitration awards, and verdicts for our clients, and we always offer free consultations to ensure we are the right fit for you. Contact us today at (303) 502-5587 to begin a thorough review of your case.