Car Accidents and Nerve Damage

Car, truck, and motorcycle accidents cause many serious injuries, including nerve damage. At Silverman, McDonald & Friedman, our Delaware car accident lawyers fight for you. Call us in Newark, Seaford, and Wilmington today.

Nerve damage isn’t as visible as other types of car crash injuries, but it can be quite painful and can prevent you from working and functioning. Generally, nerve damage due to a vehicle accident occurs in the following ways:

  • The sudden movement of the neck and head can cause the nerves to stretch or become pinched.
  • Flying glass or debris and being thrown about the car can slice through or nick the nerves.
  • Direct force. Nerves can be compressed when your arms, legs, head, or legs strike the dashboard or other parts of the car. They can also be compressed if the body is crushed.

Types of nerve damage

Nerve damage, called neuropathy, can easily occur when nerves are severed, compressed, or stretched. Peripheral nerves, according to the Mayo Clinic, link your brain and your spinal cord. This means damage to a nerve can affect the brain’s ability to communicate with organs and muscles.

Per the Mayo Clinic, nerve damage falls into three categories:

  • Avulsion injuries. These are the most severe, and occur when the nerve roots are torn from the spinal cord.
  • Stretching injuries. These occur when the nerves themselves are stretched, though they remain attached to the spinal cord.
  • Rupture injuries. These occur when the nerve itself is torn or split into pieces.

Symptoms of nerve damage

Symptoms of peripheral nerve damage include tingling, numbness, weakness in a limb, shoulder, or hand, and loss of feeling. Other types of nerve damage can include loss of motor control and/or dizziness. Many times, nerve damage accompanies other types of damage to a person’s spinal column, vertebrae or bones.

Victims of car crashes will normally undergo an imaging test: An X-Ray, MRI, or CT scan. Your doctors may use other tests such as nerve conduction tests to determine where the nerve damage is and the extent of the damage.

Can a damaged nerve be repaired?

It depends on the damage. If the nerve is stretched or compressed but still intact, then it could heal on its own. If not, crash victims may need to undergo surgery to fix the problem. If the nerve is cut, the only real option is surgery. The doctor can reconnect healthy parts of the nerves, or graft part of another nerve to help the damaged one regrow. In some cases, there may be nothing the doctor can do to fix the nerves.

The chances are good that car wreck victims will need some kind of physical therapy, whether they need surgery or not. Depending on the severity of the damage, they may end up living in chronic pain. These types of injuries can affect mobility or breathing, or a person’s ability to work. That is why filing a personal injury lawsuit may be your only option to protect your future.

For help with all car accident injuries including nerve damage, call the experienced Delaware car accident lawyers at Silverman, McDonald & Friedman. We have the experience and resources to help you get justice. To make a free appointment, call us at 302.888.2900 or fill out our contact form. We have offices in Wilmington, Newark, and Seaford

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