When you think of car accident injuries, you likely envision broken bones, whiplash, and cuts and scrapes. Your nervous system, which controls your body – your breathing, muscles and senses – is also at risk. Nerve damage can result in pain and several other health conditions. Some of these can be permanent.
Autonomic nerves control involuntary or partially involuntary actions. Signs of autonomic nerve injuries are:
- An inability to sense chest pain, including angina or a heart attack
- Too much or too little sweating
- Lightheadedness
- Dry eyes and mouth
- Constipation
- Bladder dysfunction
- Sexual dysfunction
Motor nerves pass information from your brain and spinal cord to your muscles, controlling movement. Signs of motor nerve damage are:
- Weakness
- Muscle atrophy
- Muscle twitching
- Paralysis
Sensory nerves pass information from your skin and muscles to your spinal cord and brain, allowing you to feel pain and other sensations. Signs of sensory nerve damage are:
- Pain
- Sensitivity
- Numbness
- Tingling or prickling
- Burning
- Issues with positional awareness
Treatments for nerve pain and damage
Nerve damage, in many cases, cannot be 100 percent cured. Treatments, however, can reduce your symptoms and improve your quality of life. It is important to contact your doctor with suspected symptoms immediately because they are likely to get worse over time and could lead to permanent damage.
Treatments include:
- Changing your diet to address nutritional issues
- Changing medications when drugs are responsible for your damage
- Physical therapy
- Surgery
- Medications (pain relievers, antidepressants, anti-seizure drugs and capsaicin cream)
- Regulating blood sugar levels among diabetes patients
Alternative treatments have proven effective for many patients. They include:
- Acupuncture
- Biofeedback
- Hypnosis
- Meditation
- Antioxidant vitamins
- Electrical nerve stimulation
Contact us if you need a legal solution
Nerve injuries can have an impact that lasts the rest of your life. If you’ve been in an accident, you are trying to deal with your injuries and a multitude of other issues at the same time. You may be out of work and unable to pay your bills or support your family. It’s unlikely the person responsible for your accident is going to admit it. In fact, they likely will blame you for the crash. An insurance company, more interested in protecting its bottom line than your health, may offer you a financial settlement that falls short of your expenses but is tempting to accept because you need money.
You do not have to deal with the stress alone. Personal injury lawyer John R. Solis has been handling cases just like yours for 20 years in Laredo and throughout Texas. Attorney Solis will aggressively protect your rights, knowing the stakes are high for you and your family. He will hold the person who injured you and the insurance company accountable while you focus on healing. He works on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless he wins your case. Contact us today for a free consultation.