Nerve Damage from Car Accidents
Of the 12,897 serious injury crashes recorded in 2019, 15,843 people suffered serious injuries in Texas.
As you can see, car accident injuries are extremely common. Broken bones, whiplash, fractures, concussions, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), lacerations, and bruising are common types of car accident injuries. However, most of these injuries can lead to nerve damage, a debilitating and painful experience.
Serious nerve damage can prevent you from going to work and earning an income, completing daily tasks like driving, and decrease your enjoyment of life. The pain and suffering caused by nerve damage are significant, which is why you can pursue damages if circumstances allow for it.
Types of Nerves in the Body
The nervous system sends “messages” between your brain, spinal cord, and sensory organs. It controls and coordinates your body, making it a central component of your health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, when a person gets into a car accident, they could temporarily or permanently suffer nerve damage.
There are 3 types of nerves in your body:
Autonomic nerves: Control body functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and temperature. The two systems of autonomic nerves are sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system controls your “fight or flight” responses and the parasympathetic nervous system controls metabolic functions such as digestion and excretion.
Motor nerves: Your muscle movements and actions are controlled by motor nerves. Basically, your motor nerves pass information between your brain and spinal cord to produce movements.
Sensory nerves: These nerves pass information between the skin, muscles and internal organs, and the brain and spinal cord. Sensory nerves are the reason you feel pain and other sensations.
Signs of Nerve Damage After a Traffic Collision
Nerve damage can present itself in various ways. While nerve damage can appear immediately, it also develops gradually. With this in mind, symptoms of nerve damage include:
- Numbness or tingling in hands and feet
- Muscle weakness
- Sharp pains in your limbs
- Burning sensation in the limbs
- Difficulty walking
- Excessive sweating
- Loss of balance and falling
- High sensitivity to touch
- Dropping things from your hands
- Bladder and bowel issues
- Headaches
Many car accident victims don’t recognize these symptoms until weeks or months after their crash. Far too many victims don’t realize the connection between their nerve pain and their car accident, especially when then the collision occurred a long time ago. As a result, they tend no to pursue damages from the responsible party.
So, even if you don’t feel hurt right away, you should immediately see a doctor after a car accident so they can determine if you sustained nerve damage. It’s important to closely monitor your health despite what the doctor says, just to be safe.
On that note, the statute of limitations for personal injury cases in Texas is two years from the date of the injury. So, if you believe your nerve damage stemmed from a car accident 3 years ago, you are not allowed to file a claim in Texas. But if your collision occurred 18 months ago, you could talk to a lawyer to see if you may have a claim.
Did You Get into a Car Accident?
If you got into a traffic collision, our Denton personal injury attorneys are by your side. We are deeply knowledgeable on the short and long-term damage a car accident can have, which is why we go above and beyond to help every client get back up on their feet.
Schedule your consultation with Goline & Roland Law Firm, PLLC online or by calling (940) 400-0475!