Nerve Damage After a Car Accident: Symptoms, Treatment and Your Claim

Our experienced San Bernardino car accident lawyers at LA Century Law explains nerve damage after a car accident and car accident nerve damage settlements.

How Car Accidents Cause Nerve Damage

1-3% of upper extremity traumatic injuries, including from car accidents, result in nerve damage.

A car accident can put force on the body that the body cannot withstand. When a crash occurs, the body absorbs the sudden deceleration of speed. The body continues moving even though the vehicle stops. In addition to deceleration trauma, trauma may occur from the blunt force of being struck by a vehicle or object.

When these car accident forces damage nerve pathways, nerve function can be destroyed. Damage may impair nerve signaling or completely sever the nerve tissues.

Types of Nerve Damage Injuries in Car Accidents

Nerve damage may occur to the central nervous system or the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system (CNS) is the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system is the network of nerves throughout the body.

Nerve damage can be classified by the cause of trauma:

• Stretch. When forces on the body are too strong for the nerves, they can stretch apart.
• Compression. The blunt trauma of a car accident can compress nerves. In addition, swelling from car accident injuries can compress nerves.
• Laceration. Traumatic nerve damage may occur in a car accident when tissue is cut or severed by something sharp, like glass or metal.
• Electricity. Electrical nerve damage may result from striking a power line.
• Cold. Cold temperature nerve trauma may occur if the person is stuck in a vehicle in extremely cold conditions.

In all cases, acute nerve damage occurs when trauma disrupts signaling or destroys nerve tissue.

Symptoms to Watch For After a Crash

One study found that only 9-38% of traumatic nerve injuries are diagnosed by the time the person is discharged from the emergency room or hospital. Symptoms of nerve damage can be subtle. Even medical professionals can miss them.

If you experience:

• Sensory abnormalities. Including pins and needles, shooting pain, sensitivity to light or touch, or abnormal touching sensations.
• Motor abnormalities. Muscle weakness, twitching, cramping, spasms, poor coordination, or imbalance.
• Body function abnormalities. Trouble swallowing, abnormal digestion, blood pressure changes, urinary dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, or changes in heat tolerance.
• Paralysis. Loss of voluntary muscle movements.

You may have nerve damage. Tell the doctor where the pain is in your body, how it feels, and how it impacts your function.

The doctor will evaluate you. They may conduct a nerve conduction study to see how electrical signals travel through nerves. They may use a needle to check electrical activity in muscles. In addition, imaging scans and ultrasound can help diagnose nerve damage.

How Nerve Damage Is Evaluated and Treated

Health care providers evaluate nerve damage with two classification systems: The Seddon system and the Sunderland system.

Seddon system

The Seddon system (named after Sir Herbert Seddon) classifies nerve injuries as mild (neuropraxia), moderate (axonotmesis), and severe (neurotmesis).

• Neurapraxia. Neurapraxia is a temporary block of nerve signals, resulting in sensory dysfunction. Recovery is possible. Recovery usually takes about three months.
• Axonotmesis. Axonotmesis occurs when the axons are damaged, but the connective tissue is still intact. Damaged cells may regenerate over months or years.
• Neurotmesis. Neurotmesis is the complete physical destruction of nerve connections. Recovery is unlikely.

Sunderland system

The Sunderland system (named after Sir Sydney Sunderland) uses five degrees of peripheral nerve injury. The first and second degrees correspond to neuropraxia and axonotmesis, respectively. The third, fourth, and fifth degrees identify the damaged layer of tissue: endoneurium tubes, perineurium, and epineurium.

Recovery may still occur slowly when an injury is third-degree. With a fourth-degree injury, neuroma-in-continuity occurs, where growing nerves are trapped in scar tissue. Surgery may be helpful in some cases. When nerve damage from a car accident is fifth degree, recovery may be possible with surgery.

What Nerve Damage Is Worth in a California Settlement

There is no typical or average payout for nerve damage from a car accident. Nerve damage varies in its severity. Surgery is not appropriate in all cases. Sometimes, nerve damage heals in several months. In other cases, it’s permanent.

These variables make it hard to predict what a case may be worth based on averages. A moderate case may be worth $100,000, while nerve damage causing paralysis may be worth $1 million or more.

There are several factors that determine a car accident nerve damage settlement, including:

• Cost of emergency medical care.
• Whether surgery is required.
• Pain levels, both short and long term.
• Medical care for pain relief.
• Permanent disability.
• Impact on personal functioning.
• Strength of the legal claim.
• Comparative fault.
• Insurance policies to pay compensation.

Generally, the more severe the nerve damage and the stronger the legal case, the larger the settlement value. In addition, how the person pursues the legal claim, like aggressively building evidence and pursuing the claim through the legal system, can impact the amount of compensation.

Why You Need Medical Evidence — and an Attorney — to Win This Claim

To receive the car accident nerve damage settlement that you deserve, you must prove:

• Fault. Someone else is legally responsible for the car accident.
• Damages. You have nerve damage.
• Causation. The car accident caused nerve damage.

Proving nerve damage – and the appropriate amount of compensation for it – is complex. Because nerve damage may be mild, moderate, or severe, your evidence must be specific. You must prove what your injuries are, how they affect you, and the associated medical costs. Future costs may be included in your claim.

Medical evidence is factually and legally complex. There are steps to take to present expert testimony. The evidence must explain the causation of injuries, the extent of injury, physical pain, and lifestyle impact. It must refute defenses raised by the other side.

At LA Century Law, we handle complex car accident claims. With thousands of claims handled and a 99% success rate, we’re a leader in helping car accident victims get the compensation that they deserve.

Talk to a Lawyer

Do you have nerve damage after a car accident? Call or message LA Century Law.