Nerve injuries after a car crash may go unnoticed initially, but over the days and weeks that follow, pain and other symptoms can become severe. Unlike broken bones or visible wounds, it’s quite common for nerve damage to develop more slowly. While insurers may try to minimize the severity of these injuries, the pain can become so debilitating that it affects your ability to work, perform daily tasks, and enjoy life.
At Pfeifer, Morgan & Stesiak, our experienced car accident lawyers in South Bend have seen how debilitating nerve injuries can be and how they impact crash victims and their families. Our highly qualified legal team knows how to build strong cases for victims with nerve injuries. We are ready to get to work building a compelling claim that demonstrates the full impact your nerve damage has on your daily life.
If you need legal help after any car crash injury in South Bend, be sure to contact our trusted Indiana law firm today. We offer a free case evaluation, welcome your questions, and will take time to fully explain your legal options.
Call us today to get started on your path to recovery. (574) 444-0741
Can I Sue for Nerve Damage from a Car Crash in Indiana?
Yes, you can sue for nerve damage from a car crash in Indiana if another driver’s negligence is responsible for your injuries. Indiana law allows accident victims to pursue compensation when someone else’s careless actions cause harm. Nerve damage cases are often complex because symptoms may not appear immediately and the injuries are internal, not external or visible. You need proper medical documentation and legal representation to hold the at-fault driver accountable.
To successfully recover compensation for nerve damage, your attorney must prove four essential elements of negligence:
- Duty of Care: The other driver owed you a duty to operate their vehicle safely and follow traffic laws.
- Breach of Duty: The driver violated that duty through actions such as speeding, running a red light, distracted driving, or driving under the influence.
- Causation: The driver’s breach of duty directly caused the car crash that resulted in your nerve injuries.
- Damages: You suffered actual harm, including medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and other losses related to your nerve damage.
What Types of Nerve Injuries Occur in Car Crashes?
Car crashes can cause many different types of nerve injuries. Patients with nerve damage may experience only temporary/mild discomfort, to chronic or permanent disability due to a severe nerve injury.
The force of impact, airbag deployment, and even sudden, jerky movements during a collision can be enough to cause significant or even permanent damage to various nerves.
A medical doctor can determine what type of nerve injury you may to ensure you receive the necessary medical treatment, including:
Peripheral Nerve Damage
Peripheral nerves connect your brain and spinal cord to the rest of your body. These nerves control movement and sensation in your arms, legs, hands, and feet. Car crashes can stretch, compress, or even tear peripheral nerves. This damage leads to weakness, numbness, or loss of function in the affected areas.
Spinal Nerve Injuries
The spinal cord houses bundles of nerves that transmit signals between your brain and body. Impact from a car crash can damage these nerves through herniated discs, fractured vertebrae, or direct trauma to the spine. Spinal nerve injuries often cause radiating pain, numbness, or weakness that travels from your back down into your legs or from your neck into your arms.
Brachial Plexus Injuries
The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that runs from your spine through your neck and into your shoulders and arms. These nerves control movement and sensation in your upper extremities. Whiplash, shoulder impact against a door, or seatbelt force during a collision can damage the brachial plexus. Victims may experience severe pain, inability to move their arm, or loss of sensation in their hand.
Radial, Ulnar, and Median Nerve Damage
These three major nerves run through your arms and hands. They control fine motor skills and sensation. Car crash victims often sustain damage to these nerves when bracing for impact or gripping the steering wheel during collision. Carpal tunnel syndrome, inability to grip objects, and numbness in specific fingers are common results.
What Are Common Symptoms of Nerve Injuries After a Car Crash?
Nerve injury symptoms may appear immediately after a crash or develop gradually over several days or weeks. Many South Bend accident victims dismiss early symptoms as normal soreness from the collision. They later discover they have sustained serious nerve damage. Recognizing these warning signs early allows you to seek prompt medical attention and establish a clear connection between the crash and your injuries.
Common symptoms that indicate possible nerve damage include:
- Numbness or Tingling: Loss of sensation or pins-and-needles feelings in your arms, hands, legs, feet, or other body parts that persist beyond normal post-accident soreness.
- Shooting or Radiating Pain: Sharp, electric-shock-like pain that travels along nerve pathways, often from your back or neck down into your extremities.
- Muscle Weakness: Difficulty gripping objects, lifting your arms, walking normally, or performing tasks that require coordination and strength.
- Burning Sensations: Persistent burning feelings in affected areas, even without external heat or injury to the skin.
- Loss of Reflexes: Reduced or absent reflexes in areas controlled by damaged nerves, which your doctor can detect during examination.
- Loss of Coordination: Difficulty with balance, fine motor skills, or controlling specific movements that were previously effortless.
How Can I Prove I Have a Nerve Injury from a Car Crash?
Insurance companies often challenge nerve injury claims because the damage is not visible like a broken bone. To prove your claim, you need objective medical evidence to demonstrate your nerve damage. Seeking medical help right away and following your doctor’s prescribed plan of car also helps to document and link the connection of this injury to the crash that caused it.
To increase your chances of an optimal recover for your nerve injury, we strongly recommend seeking medical help right away – even if you initially feel fine – to establish the crash and potential injuries. We also recommend seeking legal help as soon as your injuries are stabilized so we can get to work protecting your rights.
Additional steps you can take to help prove your nerve injury include:
- Seek Immediate Medical Care: Visit an emergency room or doctor immediately after the crash, even if symptoms seem minor, to establish the connection between the accident and your injuries.
- Undergo Diagnostic Testing: Request tests such as electromyography, nerve conduction studies, MRI scans, or CT scans that can objectively detect and document nerve damage.
- Follow All Treatment Plans: Attend every scheduled appointment and complete all prescribed therapies to show the ongoing nature and severity of your condition.
- Document Your Symptoms: Keep a detailed journal recording your daily symptoms, pain levels, limitations, and how nerve damage affects your ability to work and perform routine activities.
- Obtain Medical Opinions: Work with neurologists, orthopedic specialists, or other physicians who can provide professional assessments linking your nerve damage to the car crash.
- Preserve Evidence: Save all medical bills, prescription records, diagnostic images, and treatment notes that demonstrate the extent of your nerve injuries and related expenses.
How Much Compensation Can I Recover for Nerve Damage in Indiana?
The amount of compensation you can recover for nerve damage varies. It depends on many different factors, but mostly on the severity of your injuries and the impact they have on your life. Indiana law does not cap compensation in most car accident cases. This means you can pursue full recovery for all losses caused by the crash. However, Indiana does follow a modified comparative fault rule. If you share any responsibility for the accident, your compensation will be reduced by your percentage of fault.
Nerve damage cases often result in substantial settlements because these injuries can cause permanent disability. The compensation you receive should account for both your current expenses and future needs. Your attorney will work with medical professionals and economists to calculate the full value of your claim.
Types of compensation available in nerve damage cases include:
- Medical Expenses: All costs related to diagnosing and treating your nerve injury, including emergency care, hospital stays, surgery, physical therapy, medications, and future treatment needs.
- Lost Wages: Income you have lost because of time away from work during recovery, as well as reduced earning capacity if nerve damage prevents you from returning to your previous job.
- Pain and Suffering: Compensation for physical pain, emotional distress, anxiety, depression, and reduced quality of life caused by your nerve injuries.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Damages for your inability to participate in activities you previously enjoyed, such as hobbies, sports, or spending time with family.
- Permanent Disability: Additional compensation if your nerve damage results in permanent impairment or loss of bodily function.
What Factors Affect My Nerve Injury Claim in South Bend?
Several key factors can strengthen or weaken your nerve injury claim. Understanding these elements helps you and your attorney build the strongest possible case. Insurance companies scrutinize every detail when evaluating nerve damage claims because these injuries are often invisible and can result in substantial payouts.
Important factors that impact your claim include:
- Timing of Medical Treatment: Seeking immediate medical care after the crash establishes a clear link between the accident and your nerve damage, while delays raise questions about causation.
- Quality of Medical Documentation: Comprehensive records from specialists, diagnostic test results, and detailed treatment notes provide objective proof of your injuries and their severity.
- Fault Determination: Clear evidence that the other driver caused the crash through negligence strengthens your claim, while shared fault reduces your potential compensation under Indiana law.
- Pre-Existing Conditions: Previous nerve problems or spinal injuries can complicate your claim, though you can still recover if the crash worsened your condition.
- Consistency of Symptoms: Steady or worsening symptoms documented over time demonstrate genuine injury, while inconsistent complaints may weaken your credibility.
- Impact on Daily Life: Evidence showing how nerve damage affects your work, relationships, and routine activities helps demonstrate the full extent of your damages.
- Treatment Compliance: Following all medical recommendations shows the seriousness of your condition, while gaps in treatment suggest your injuries may not be severe.
How Our South Bend Car Accident Lawyer Helps with Nerve Injury Claims
At [firm-name], our South Bend personal injury attorneys understand the challenges nerve injury victims face. We work with medical specialists, handle all communication with insurance companies, and fight for maximum compensation.
If you are suffering from nerve damage after a car crash in South Bend or anywhere in St. Joseph County, contact [firm-name] today for a free consultation. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no upfront costs or out-of-pocket fees. We only get paid if you do.
Experienced Lawyers. Protecting Your Rights. (574) 444-0741
