Nerve Damage Lawyer in Palm Coast, FL

Nerve damage can cause debilitating pain and leave you unable to take part in the daily activities that you enjoyed. Whether your nerves were damaged in a car crash, a fall, or some other type of accident, you may have intense pain, limited mobility, and other side effects.

If you sustained nerve damage as a result of someone else’s negligence such as a careless driver who injured you in a collision, you may be entitled to seek compensation for your medical bills, loss of income from missed work, and other losses.

The attorneys at Chiumento Law, PLLC, want to help you pursue compensation if you have suffered a nerve injury due to others’ carelessness or disregard for safety. Our Palm Coast nerve injury attorneys have been helping injured people in Florida seek just compensation for their losses since 1973. With nearly five decades of experience, our legal team has the experience, knowledge, and commitment to serve you. Contact us today for a free consultation with a Palm Coast personal injury attorney.

What Compensation Can I Recover if I Suffered Nerve Damage?

Nerve damage can affect many different areas of your life as well as your future. You will need to take advantage of all the financial resources available if a severe nerve injury requires you to adapt to a new life. If someone else’s negligence caused your nerve damage, you may have a right to hold the individual or business financially accountable and seek compensation for your medical bills and other injury-related expenses.

With the help of an experienced nerve injury lawyer at Chiumento Law, PLLC, you may seek compensation for:

• Medical bills (present and future)
• Lost income
• Reduced future earning potential
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Lower quality of life
• Damaged personal property

How Can I Prove Nerve Damage Has Occurred?

Proving you have suffered a nerve injury will require solid medical evidence linking the nerve damage to the specific accident or event that caused it.

Some diagnostic tools doctors use to diagnose nerve damage are:

• X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and other diagnostic imaging tests
• Physical and neurological examinations by a doctor
• Testing your blood, spinal fluid, and other bodily fluids
• Reviewing your medical history

If you are having trouble proving you have sustained nerve damage, a nerve injury attorney can help you find qualified and experienced doctors who can review your medical case and help you understand the extent and impact of your injury.

How Common Are Nerve Injuries?

There are many different kinds of nerve injuries. Nerves in your back or other parts of your body may be compressed by surrounding tissue, causing pain and numbness. The Cleveland Clinic reports about 85 out of every 100,000 individuals in the United States suffer from a pinched nerve. Pinched nerves are commonly caused by motor-vehicle crashes, sports injuries, slip-and-falls, and other types of physical trauma. Repetitive movements also may lead to inflammation, swelling, and pinched nerves.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke estimates about 20 million people in the U.S. suffer from some form of peripheral neuropathy. The peripheral nervous system is composed of the nerves located outside of the brain or spine such as nerves in your arms and legs. Physical trauma to these nerves is a common cause of peripheral neuropathy. It can also be caused by diabetes, problems with the vascular system in your body, certain autoimmune diseases, and certain viruses.

While many nerve injuries involve damage to the peripheral nerves, traumatic injuries to the brain or spinal column can cause damage to the central nervous system. Car accidents and falls are common causes of head injuries and back injuries. These injuries may require extensive medical treatment.

How Can You Tell If You Have Nerve Damage?

The symptoms of nerve damage depend on the type of nerve that was injured and the severity of the injury. If you have experienced damage to your motor nerves, which are the nerves that move the muscles you consciously control, the symptoms may include:

• Uncontrollable muscle twitches
• Weakness in the affected muscle or limb
• Numbness or loss of feeling in the affected area
• Paralysis in the affected area
• Pain at the site of the injured nerve

You also have sensory nerves that relay information to your brain and help you respond to pain, heat, cold, and other sensations. Symptoms of damage to your sensory nerves include:

• Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet
• A burning sensation, especially the limbs
• Difficulty walking
• Difficulty keeping your balance, especially with your eyes closed
• Difficulty sensing pain
• Difficult sensing heat or cold

The final category of nerves in your peripheral nervous system is your autonomic nerves. These nerves control crucial bodily functions, such as breathing, your heartbeat, digestion of food, and regulation of temperature.

Some signs of damage to your autonomic nerves include:

• Excessive sweating
• Feeling lightheaded
• Dry eyes or dry mouth
• Constipation
• Difficulty controlling your bladder
• Difficulty with sexual activity

The symptoms we’ve listed so far cover damage to your peripheral nervous system. However, the central nervous system can be damaged in an accident, especially if you suffer violent physical trauma. The central nervous system includes your brain and spinal cord, which send signals to the rest of your body.

Some signs of damage to your central nervous system include:

• Headaches
• Unusual drowsiness or fatigue
• Difficulty speaking
• Sudden sensitivity to light or sound
• Blurry vision
• Ringing in the ears
• Change in sense of taste
• Loss of sense of smell
• Loss of consciousness after a blow to the head
• Difficulty focusing
• Sudden mood swings
• Intense nausea or vertigo
• Dilated pupils
• Convulsions or seizures
• Loss of coordination or muscle control
• Partial or full paralysis

If you feel like something is wrong with your body and you cannot pinpoint a specific physical cause, talk to your doctor.

What Causes Nerve Damage?

Many nerve injuries are caused by people acting carelessly or not taking proper precautions to prevent accidents. Some of the most common negligence-related causes of nerve injuries are:

• Motor-vehicle accidents – Car accidents, motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, and other collisions involving motor vehicles are among the most common causes of nerve injuries. The force of impact in a collision can tear or crush nerves, leading to pain or other symptoms in the affected area. In more serious cases, a traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury can lead to loss of function, paralysis, and other examples of major nerve damage.
• Falls – Slipping and landing hard on your back, side, or one of your limbs can cause damage in the peripheral or central nervous system. Many falls are caused by property owners failing to take proper safety precautions. Slippery sidewalks, wet floors, spilled liquids, loose objects on the floor, icy parking lots, and other hazards can all cause someone to fall hard and sustain a nerve injury.
• Physical assaults – Gunshot wounds, stabbings, and other physical assaults can all cause severe nerve injuries, particularly if the victim sustains an injury to their head, spine, or another part of the nervous system.
• Electric shocks – A severe electric shock can damage nerves throughout your body. While some of these shocks are difficult to predict, such as lightning strikes, employees such as construction workers, electricians, and utility workers who work in proximity to live electrical wires are at risk of suffering damage from electric shocks.
• Repetitive or cumulative trauma – Many work-related nerve injuries aren’t the result of one specific, violent event. Instead, they’re caused by gradual damage to the body over time. These injuries sometimes referred to as repetitive stress or cumulative trauma injuries, are frequently caused by people having to perform the same tasks over and over at work. For example, carpal tunnel syndrome is a type of nerve damage caused by the nerves gradually being compressed over a long period by inflamed tissue.

If the nerve is damaged but not severed, the injury may eventually. If you have severe nerve damage, the doctor may recommend surgery to restore function to muscles by transferring tendons from another muscle. Nerve damage involving severed nerves can be difficult to treat.

Contact a Palm Coast Nerve Damage Lawyer Today

Nerve injuries can be devastating, and many cannot be easily repaired. The Palm Coast personal injury lawyers at Chiumento Law, PLLC, want to help you seek fair compensation if you have suffered nerve damage due to someone else’s careless or wrongful actions or inaction. For more information on our services, contact our offices today.