Car accidents often result in visible injuries like deep cuts, bruising, and broken bones. But crash injuries can also cause hidden injuries, like nerve damage. Although nerve damage may not immediately cause pain or health complications, it can lead to disabling conditions with long-lasting consequences. You could be entitled to compensation if someone else caused an auto accident that left you with nerve damage in San Antonio.
San Antonio nerve damage attorney Troy A. Brookover has over 30 years of legal experience representing thousands of accident victims in San Antonio, Bexar County, and South Texas. With a track record of success that includes multiple six-and seven-figure awards, our personal injury law firm has provided people with the financial resources they need to move on with their lives.
When you hire Law Offices of Troy A. Brookover, you benefit from superior knowledge and experience. Troy is one of a few nerve damage attorneys in Texas with board certification in personal injury law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This honor recognizes his expertise, skilled advocacy, and success in personal injury cases.
If you’re living with nerve damage from a car accident in San Antonio, contact us for a free consultation with a trusted car accident lawyer.
Different Types of Nerves and Their Functions
Nerves transmit signals from the brain down the spinal cord, exiting at various points along the spinal column to various parts of the body. Nerves come in several types and are categorized by the kinds of signals they send:
- Motor nerves – These nerves control voluntary muscle movements. Damage to motor nerves can affect a person’s ability to move.
- Sensory nerves – Sensory nerves transmit sensations from the skin, including feelings of pain, pressure, touch, heat, or cold.
- Autonomic nerves – These nerves control the body’s involuntary functions, such as respiration, heart rate, and digestion.
Nerve Damage Symptoms: Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore
A car accident victim may not experience symptoms of nerve damage right away. The shock of a crash may lead to an adrenaline rush that distracts you from noticing pain. Other injuries could also cause pain that mimics or masks signs of nerve damage. However, in the hours and days following a car accident, watch for the appearance of potential symptoms of nerve damage, such as:
- Numbness or decreased sensations of touch, heat, or cold
- Tingling or pin-pricking sensations
- Shooting pain
- Pain that radiates into an uninjured part of the body
- Muscle weakness
- Muscle spasms
- Altered or reduced reflexes
- Foot drop
- Difficulty maintaining balance or motor function
- Headaches or migraines
- Issues with bladder or bowel control
- Sexual dysfunction, including erectile dysfunction or loss of sensitivity
See a doctor immediately if you begin experiencing any signs of injury after a wreck.
Diagnosing and Treating Nerve Damage: What You Need to Know
When you see a doctor after a car accident, you should expect the physician to conduct diagnostic testing for potential nerve damage. An exam may test your muscle reflexes, hand, arm, and leg strength, range of motion, balance, and coordination. Slow reflexes, weakness, or uneven strength on different sides of the body may indicate that you suffered some nerve damage.
Doctors have other diagnostic tools they can use to confirm suspected nerve damage, including:
- Electromyography (EMG) – An EMG records the electrical activity of skeletal muscles, which can help detect abnormalities or reduced activation levels.
- Nerve conduction study (NCS) – Nerve conduction studies measure how nerves respond to stimuli and electrical activity in muscles. Doctors frequently use NCS in conjunction with EMGs to diagnose nerve damage.
- MRIs/CT scans – Internal imaging may reveal other injuries, such as herniated discs or swelling of soft tissues, that may cause the symptoms of nerve damage you experience.
Doctors categorize nerve injuries into various types, including:
- Neuropraxia – An injury caused by compressed nerves or constricted blood supply to nerves. Commonly called a “pinched nerve” injury, neuropraxia typically has a recovery period of six to eight weeks.
- Axonotmesis – A nerve injury characterized by the crushing of nerves. Depending on the severity of the injury, affected nerves may become permanently damaged, causing paralysis.
- Neurotmesis – A shearing or severing of the nerve and nerve sheath. Although a patient may have partial recovery, they typically will suffer some degree of permanent paralysis or sensory loss.
Patients usually wear braces or splints for less severe nerve damage to stabilize affected body parts and allow for healing. Doctors often prescribe physical therapy to promote recovery and help the injured person regain or maintain strength and range of function. In severe cases, car accident victims may need surgery to repair nerve damage.
Nerve Damage Compensation: Understanding Your Rights and Options for Recovery
In Texas, car accident victims can pursue compensation for nerve damage if another party’s negligence led to the crash that injured them. Compensation could include money for losses like:
- Medical treatment and rehabilitation, including hospitalization, surgery, doctor’s appointments, physical therapy, medical equipment, prescriptions, pain management care, and future medical costs
- Costs of long-term care you may need for permanent impairments, such as home health services, housekeeping, and home maintenance services
- Loss of wages from missed work
- Reduced earnings, if you need to work part-time or light-duty while recovering from nerve damage
- Loss of future earning potential and job benefits if you suffer a permanent disability that prevents you from working
- Physical pain
- Emotional distress
- Lost quality of life
- Permanent scarring/disfigurement
Get Legal Help from Our Experienced San Antonio Car Accident Attorneys
If you suffered nerve damage or other injuries after a car accident in San Antonio, you deserve justice and accountability for what you’ve endured. For a free case review, call Law Offices of Troy A. Brookover or contact us online. We can listen to your story, review your options, and help you pursue the money you’re entitled to.
