Representing Victims of Traumatic Nerve Damage
After an accident, it’s difficult to ignore a broken bone or deep cut, but when the damage is done to your nerves, you may not know how to describe it. Nerve injuries can range from chronic pain, tingling in the fingers and toes, to even paralysis. You may initially dismiss the smaller symptom as the initial shock from an accident, but nerve damage can have long-lasting effects and completely change your life.
Treating nerve damage is a long, trying process, and comes with a high price tag. But if you suffered a nerve injury due to someone else’s careless behavior, you should not have to pay for their negligence. Instead, contact the Fort Collins nerve injury attorneys at the Tenge Law Firm, LLC by calling (970) 212-4777. We offer free consultations to any potential client and we will not charge you a dime unless with win your case.
Understanding What Nerves Do for You
Most nerve injuries are classified as peripheral, meaning the damage occurred to the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. These nerves use electrical signals to communicate messages between the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) and other areas of the body, allowing you to move, see, breathe, and essentially have any control over your body. They even tell your brain about changes in pressure or temperature, or when something is causing the body pain. However, these nerves are fragile and frequently damaged in accidents that cause trauma to the body.
Identifying Damaging Nerve Injuries
Symptoms caused by a nerve injury depend on the severity of the injury and the types of nerves affected. Nerves in the peripheral nervous system are classified into three different categories:
- Sensory nerves: Receive sensation from the skin, including touch, vibration, temperature, and pain.
- Motor nerves: Control movement of the muscles.
- Autonomic nerves: Regulate certain body processes, such as breathing, blood pressure, heart rate, digestion, and bladder.
Some symptoms may overlap, but you can identify autonomic nerve damage by paying attention to:
- Changes in blood pressure that cause dizziness or lightheadedness
- Intolerance to heat
- Excessive sweating or inability to sweat
- Digestive, bowel, or bladder problems
In contrast, sensory and motor nerves are injured, symptoms may include:
- Muscle weakness
- Lack of coordination and falling
- Sharp, burning, throbbing, or jabbing pain
- Gradual onset of tingling, prickling, or numbness in the hands or feet, which can spread upward to the arms or legs
- Extreme sensitivity to touch
- Paralysis, when motor nerves are affected
- Pain from activities that should not cause pain, such as standing or putting the feet under a blanket
How Traumatic Incidents Damage Your Nerves
Damage to the peripheral nerves can occur with different types of trauma, including lacerations, severe burns, and sharp blows to the body. When a bone is fractured, the nerves are often damaged, as well. Something as common as whiplash may result in a pinched or stretched nerve, whereas any blunt-force trauma can compress the nerves in the head, arms, legs, and other areas of the body. Nerves may even be fully severed from shrapnel, damaged equipment, or shattered glass.
Any one of these injuries can occur in:
Recovering from Nerve Damage
In some cases, it is possible to eventually recover from nerve injury without undergoing surgery. However, if your nerve injury is severe enough to require surgery, your damages are likely to be extensive. Surgical treatment may involve nerve grafting or nerve or muscle transfers. Following surgery, you will need rehabilitation and may suffer from chronic pain. This means long-term time away from work, and your injuries could make it necessary to change your occupation. Damages you are entitled to claim for severe nerve injury may include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Rehabilitation and therapy
- Lost wages
- Loss of future earning potential
- Physical and emotional pain and suffering
- Diminished quality of life
Thorough and Aggressive Legal Representation
Serious nerve injuries can be debilitating, making it difficult for you to move or even breathe. It can cost you a great deal in terms of medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. Recovering full and fair compensation is critical to your recovery, but insurance companies are not interested in your recovery: they’re interested in profits. That is why it is paramount that you contact an experienced lawyer to fight on your behalf.
Our Fort Collins injury lawyers at the Tenge Law Firm, LLC have many years of experience successfully recovering tens of millions of dollars for our clients. When we take on a client, we do not just handle the legal side of your case, but also ensure that you are fully aware of every step of the process, from new evidence to updates on settlement offers. We will not act without your permission and will not give up until we achieve a fair settlement. Call us at (970) 212-4777 to schedule a free consultation if you have suffered a nerve injury in an accident that was someone else’s fault.