Getting Fair Compensation for Nerve Damage After a Car Accident

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Car accidents can cause a wide range of injuries, leaving victims with everything from broken bones and lacerations to traumatic brain injuries and nerve damage. If you experience tingling, numbness, and weakness in parts of your body after a crash, you may have suffered nerve damage.

If you’ve suffered any sort of injury after a crash, it’s important to fight for fair compensation. The team at Reeves & Mestayer is ready to help you pursue full compensation. Get started now by calling us at 228-300-2754.

Unraveling the Types of Nerve Damage

Nerve damage sustained in a car accident can range from mild, temporary disruptions to severe, permanent impairment. Medical professionals categorize these injuries based on the extent of damage to the nerve fibers and their surrounding structures.

Neurapraxia: The Temporary Halt

The least severe form of nerve damage is neurapraxia. This occurs when a nerve is subjected to compression or stretching during the impact of a crash. Imagine a garden hose that’s temporarily kinked; water flow is disrupted, but the hose itself isn’t fundamentally broken. Similarly, in neurapraxia, the nerve’s ability to transmit signals is temporarily impaired, but the underlying structure of the nerve, including the axon (the main fiber that carries electrical impulses) and its protective myelin sheath (which insulates the axon), remains intact.

Symptoms of neurapraxia can include tingling, numbness, temporary weakness, or a burning sensation in the affected area. These symptoms are often the result of the nerve’s blood supply being temporarily compromised or the signaling pathways being momentarily disrupted. The good news is that neurapraxia typically has a favorable prognosis. With sufficient rest and conservative management, such as the application of ice and heat to reduce inflammation and promote healing, symptoms usually resolve fairly quickly, often within days to a few weeks. The nerve’s function gradually returns as the compression or stretching is relieved and the nerve recovers its normal physiological state. While alarming at the time, neurapraxia is generally not associated with long-term disability.

Axonotmesis: The Damaged Pathway

A more serious form of nerve injury is axonotmesis. This type of damage occurs when the axons (the core conducting fibers of the nerve) and their surrounding myelin sheath (the fatty insulation that helps speed up nerve impulses) are damaged or even disrupted. However, the crucial distinction in axonotmesis is that the outer connective tissue layers of the nerve, which provide structural support and guide the regenerating axons, remain intact. Think of it as a telephone cable where the inner wires are frayed or broken, but the outer protective casing is still whole.

Because the axons are directly damaged, the symptoms of axonotmesis are typically more pronounced and persistent than those of neurapraxia. Patients may experience significant muscle weakness, partial paralysis, numbness, or loss of sensation in the affected limb or body part. The recovery process for axonotmesis is considerably longer and more challenging. The body must regenerate the damaged axons, a process that occurs slowly, often at a rate of about one millimeter per day. This means that recovery can take months to even a year or more, depending on the length of the nerve pathway that needs to regenerate.

Physical therapy plays a critical role in the recovery from axonotmesis. Therapists work with patients to maintain muscle strength, prevent atrophy, improve range of motion, and retrain the affected muscles as nerve function slowly returns. Electrical stimulation, exercises, and occupational therapy may also be employed to help restore full use and functionality to the affected area. While full recovery is possible, it is not always guaranteed, and some residual weakness or sensory deficits may persist.

Neurotmesis: The Severed Connection

The most severe and debilitating type of nerve damage is neurotmesis. This injury signifies a complete severance of the nerve. This means that not only are the axons and myelin sheath destroyed, but also the crucial outer connective tissue layers that encase and support the nerve are torn apart. In essence, the entire communication pathway is completely broken, preventing any nerve impulses from traveling beyond the point of injury. Imagine the telephone cable being completely cut in half; there’s no way for the signal to pass through.

Neurotmesis often results in complete loss of function in the areas supplied by the damaged nerve. This can manifest as complete paralysis, total numbness, or an inability to control muscles. The symptoms are immediate and profound. Due to the complete disruption of the nerve’s structure, spontaneous regeneration is highly unlikely to result in meaningful recovery.

In cases of neurotmesis, prompt surgical care is often the only hope for regaining some functionality. Surgeons may attempt to reconnect the severed nerve ends through a delicate procedure called nerve repair or nerve grafting. In nerve repair, the surgeon carefully stitches the ends of the damaged nerve together. If there’s a gap that’s too large to bridge, a nerve graft, where a segment of nerve is taken from another part of the body, may be used to bridge the gap.

However, even with successful surgical intervention, full recovery is rare. The complex process of nerve regeneration, the potential for scarring, and the time it takes for axons to grow back can limit the extent of recovery. If surgical treatment is delayed or unsuccessful, the victim may face permanent loss of functionality, including chronic pain, muscle atrophy, and lifelong disability. This underscores the critical importance of immediate medical evaluation and intervention for suspected neurotmesis injuries.

Navigating Compensation for Nerve Damage in Biloxi, MS

Securing fair and full compensation for nerve damage after a car accident is notoriously challenging. Unlike some other injuries with more predictable recovery timelines, the long-term prognosis for nerve damage can be uncertain for an extended period. This inherent uncertainty creates significant hurdles when dealing with insurance companies.

The Challenge of Predicting Recovery

One of the primary difficulties in determining fair compensation for nerve damage stems from the unpredictable nature of recovery. Until you have undergone a complete course of treatment, including therapies and rehabilitation, and your doctors have a clearer picture of your maximum medical improvement, it’s virtually impossible to know whether your injuries will fully heal. This ambiguity makes it difficult to assign a definitive monetary value to your damages.

Insurance companies, driven by their profit motives, will almost always err on the side of a full recovery. They will argue that your injuries are unlikely to be permanent and, therefore, you deserve minimal compensation. Their goal is to settle your claim for the lowest possible amount, protecting their own financial interests rather than prioritizing your well-being. It is crucial to remember that their assessment is not an unbiased medical opinion; it is a business decision.

The Importance of Legal Counsel

Even if the ultimate outcome of your nerve damage remains uncertain, you deserve to be fairly compensated for the pain, suffering, and financial burdens you’ve already endured and will continue to face. This is where the expertise of a car accident attorney becomes invaluable. An attorney can serve as your advocate, navigating the complexities of personal injury law and relentlessly pursuing the compensation you are owed.

Your attorney will work to gather comprehensive evidence and construct a compelling case on your behalf. Depending on the specifics of your injury and the evidence presented, you may be entitled to various categories of compensation, including:

  • Medical expenses: This covers all past and present medical bills related to your nerve damage, including emergency room visits, doctor consultations, diagnostic tests (such as MRIs, CT scans, EMGs, and nerve conduction studies), medications, and hospital stays.
  • Future medical costs: If your nerve injury is expected to require ongoing medical intervention, such as long-term physical therapy, occupational therapy, pain management treatments, assistive devices, or even future surgeries, these anticipated expenses should be included in your compensation claim.
  • Lost wages: If your nerve damage prevented you from working, you can seek compensation for the income you’ve already lost due to your inability to perform your job duties. This includes lost salary, hourly wages, commissions, and bonuses.
  • Lost future income: Perhaps the most significant financial impact of severe nerve damage can be its effect on your long-term earning capacity. If your injury permanently affects your ability to work in your chosen profession or reduces your earning potential, you deserve compensation for this loss of future income. This often requires expert economic analysis.
  • Pain and suffering: This is a non-economic damage that compensates you for the physical pain, emotional distress, discomfort, and reduced quality of life caused by your nerve damage. This can be a substantial component of a personal injury claim, especially given the chronic and often debilitating nature of nerve pain.
  • Disability and disfigurement: If your nerve damage leads to a permanent physical disability, loss of limb function, or noticeable disfigurement, you can seek compensation for these life-altering consequences. This accounts for the impact on your independence, daily activities, and self-esteem.

Proving Your Nerve Damage: The Evidentiary Foundation

A critical component of any successful personal injury claim is robustly proving that you have been injured and that those injuries were a direct result of the defendant’s negligence. For nerve damage, which isn’t always visibly apparent, a multi-faceted approach to evidence collection is essential.

Documenting Your Journey

One of the simplest yet most powerful tools in your arsenal is a detailed log of your symptoms. Begin documenting your experiences from the moment you notice any signs of nerve damage. This log should include:

  • Date and time: When did you experience the symptom?
  • Specific symptoms: What exactly are you feeling? (e.g., “sharp, shooting pain down my left arm,” “numbness in my fingertips,” “difficulty gripping objects,” “muscle weakness in my leg”).
  • Location: Where on your body are you experiencing the symptom?
  • Severity: Rate your pain or discomfort on a scale of 1 to 10.
  • Triggers: Did anything specific make the symptom worse or better?
  • Impact on daily life: How did the symptom affect your ability to perform everyday tasks, work, sleep, or engage in hobbies?

Common symptoms of nerve damage that you should meticulously track include:

  • Numbness, especially in your extremities (fingers, toes, hands, feet)
  • Burning or stabbing pain, often described as electric shocks
  • Muscle weakness and loss of control, leading to difficulty with grip, walking, or fine motor skills
  • Random pain that comes without a clear trigger
  • Increased sensitivity to touch or changes in temperature
  • Lack of coordination or balance issues

This daily log provides a compelling, contemporaneous record of your suffering and how the nerve damage has progressively impacted your life.

The Power of Medical Evidence

While your personal log is valuable, the cornerstone of proving your nerve damage lies in comprehensive medical evidence. It is imperative to seek prompt and consistent medical attention for your injuries. When you meet with your personal injury attorney, provide them with as much documentation as you can. This includes:

  • Diagnostic scans: Results from MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), CT scans (Computed Tomography), X-rays, and particularly specialized tests like EMGs (Electromyography) and NCS (Nerve Conduction Studies). EMGs assess the electrical activity of muscles and nerves, while NCS measure how well and how fast your nerves conduct electrical signals. These tests can objectively pinpoint nerve damage and its severity.
  • Feedback from your doctor: Detailed medical reports from neurologists, orthopedic surgeons, pain management specialists, and other healthcare providers involved in your treatment. These reports should clearly document their findings, diagnoses, and opinions on the cause and extent of your nerve damage.
  • Treatments you have tried: A record of all therapies, medications, injections, and surgical procedures you have undergone. This demonstrates the extent of your medical interventions and the severity of your condition.
  • Your next steps: Documentation of any recommended future treatments, referrals to specialists, or long-term care plans. This helps establish the need for future medical costs.
  • Medications: A list of all prescriptions and over-the-counter medications you are taking to manage your nerve damage symptoms.

Your attorney will use this extensive medical documentation to build a robust case, convincing the insurance company – and potentially a jury – that you have indeed suffered significant nerve damage and are therefore owed fair compensation.

The Duty to Mitigate Damages

Finally, as you pursue compensation and navigate your personal injury claim, it is absolutely crucial that you do everything your doctor recommends. This might involve rigorous physical therapy sessions, adhering strictly to medication schedules, attending follow-up appointments, or even undergoing recommended surgical procedures.

While these treatments can be challenging, time-consuming, and sometimes painful, failing to follow your doctor’s treatment plan can severely jeopardize your injury claim. In legal terms, you have a “duty to mitigate damages.” 

This means you are legally obligated to take reasonable steps to minimize the extent of your injuries and facilitate your recovery. 

If an insurance company can argue that you exacerbated your own injuries or delayed your recovery by not following medical advice, they may significantly reduce or even deny your compensation. By diligently adhering to your treatment plan, you not only prioritize your health but also demonstrate to the insurance company and the courts that you are committed to your recovery and that your claim for compensation is legitimate and well-founded.

The path to recovery from nerve damage sustained in a car accident can be long and arduous, both physically and emotionally. By understanding the different types of nerve injuries, seeking qualified legal representation, and meticulously documenting your experiences and medical treatment, you can significantly improve your chances of securing the fair and full compensation you deserve to help you rebuild your life.

Reach Out to Reeves & Mestayer Now to Discuss Your Case

Working with the right personal injury attorney can help you get treated fairly by the insurance company. Don’t trust the insurance adjuster to offer the settlement you truly deserve—let us guide you through this process. Set up a consultation with our team now. Just call us at 228-300-2754 or contact us online. We’re ready to advocate aggressively for you as you heal from your injuries.

How Fitness Tracker Data May Help Your Auto Accident Case

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You might be surprised by the wide variety of evidence available to you after a car accident. Of course, there are the usual suspects—photos, video footage, and your own recounting of the event. However, there are others that may surprise you. Security video footage from nearby stores, dashcam footage from an uninvolved driver that stops to help, skid marks on the road, and fitness tracker data.

Yes, your fitness watch could be a great source of evidence during your personal injury claim. Want to learn more? Call Reeves & Mestayer at 228-300-2754 to set up a consultation right now.

What Data Does Your Watch Collect?

To start, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the wide range of data your watch gathers. It includes:

  • Location
  • Heart rate
  • Calorie burning and metabolism
  • Sleep quality
  • Exercise duration, intensity, and habits
  • General activity level
  • Temperature and other body measurements

If you use your imagination, you can see how a lot of these would be useful in a car crash claim. Your attorney will be able to examine the data on your watch and determine how to use it.

Your Data May Show Your Injuries or Illness

How will your watch data show an injury caused by a crash? While your watch cannot prove anything on its own, it can be used as supporting evidence. To start, your watch provides a baseline for your activity and health level.

Assuming you wear it daily, it shows your average steps, workout time, workout intensity, and calories burned. Any significant change in any of those metrics will be visible on a chart produced by the app, and on some watches, major changes in trends even warrant a notification.

Imagine this scenario. A marathon runner with a demanding physical job is hurt in a car crash. The insurance company isn’t interested in paying any more than a pitifully low settlement, claiming that the victim is exaggerating their injuries to secure a bigger payout.

The victim’s attorney provides an analysis of the watch data. It shows that in the weeks since the accident, their average step count has dropped from 14,000 per day to less than 6,000. The victim runs about 50% less often than they used to, and when they do, it is at a slower pace for less time. Additionally, the victim’s resting heart rate has increased, indicating an overall decrease in health.

The attorney points out days that have less than 1,000 steps, noting that those days correlate with the days that the victim missed work due to their pain levels. That evidence just made it much harder for the insurance company to ignore the victim’s claim.

Sleep quality and temperature are also useful metrics in an accident claim. Pain and limited mobility can cause a drop in sleep quality, which weakens your immune system and overall quality of life.

If your sleep tracker identifies a major change in your sleep patterns and an overall decrease in sleep quality, that may be useful evidence. If you suffered an infection from the road rash you got in the accident, your tracker may show an overall increase in body temperature for several days or weeks as your body attempts to fight off the infection.

Remember That Your Evidence Can Also Be Used Against You

As is the case with any other piece of evidence, your fitness tracker data can also be used against you. The other side’s insurance company could say that your daily steps have decreased, but that they’re still above the national average, showing that you must not be too badly injured.

They could also claim that you intentionally decreased your activity level in an effort to turn the case in your favor. If there are any metrics that remained normal after the crash, they may latch onto those measurements and try to use them as proof that you aren’t injured. This is why it’s important to work with an attorney. They can weigh the advantages and disadvantages, then help you make the right choice for your case.

Contact Reeves & Mestayer Now—We’re Ready to Work on Your Case

The sooner you begin your personal injury claim, the more time your attorney has to fight for you. We’re ready to talk when you are. Just call us at 228-300-2754 or fill out our contact form.

Pre-Existing Conditions: You’re Still Entitled to Fair Compensation After a Car Crash

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You’ve been injured in a car accident, but you have pre-existing conditions or injuries. Perhaps you’ve heard from the other party’s insurance company or others who have pursued compensation that your prior injury bars you from receiving anything. Insurance companies often deliver this feedback like it’s a fatal blow to your case. They expect you to back down and give up.

It’s not time to give up. It’s time to hire an attorney and fight harder. Call Reeves & Mestayer at 228-300-2754 to set up a consultation and find out what you should do next.

Pre-Existing Conditions Are More Common Than You Think

To start, pre-existing injuries aren’t that uncommon. Insurance companies may act like they’ve discovered something devastating to your claim, but the fact is that most people have been injured at some point before in their lives. Being injured at any point in your life doesn’t mean that you are never entitled to compensation in the future.

Many people have some sort of prior injury, whether from a high school sport, bad luck with genetics, or an unfortunate fall. If insurance companies never paid people with pre-existing injuries, they would almost never have to pay out on claims.

Insurance Companies Will Use Them Against You

Just because pre-existing injuries don’t automatically wreck your claim doesn’t mean that insurance companies won’t do their best to make that happen. Insurance adjusters know that many people do not know their rights after a crash, and they will absolutely use that information to their advantage.

They often deliver this “news” in an apologetic way that makes it seem like they’re on your side— “Oh my goodness, you tore your ACL in high school playing football? That must have been so painful. I’m so sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but since you have a previous knee injury, my company will not allow me to offer any compensation for your shattered kneecap. I wish I could help.” Remember—they are not on your side. Do not take advice from someone who is actively working against your best interests.

Honesty is Key

One mistake you must avoid is hiding your pre-existing injury. Many people do this, thinking that the insurance company won’t know about the injury if they never report it. This isn’t the case.

You’ll inevitably have to disclose that information to your treating physician when you’re seeking treatment for your injury, and the insurance company can get access to that information as you seek compensation. At that point, they will push even harder to get your claim dismissed.

They might say that your choice to hide your pre-existing injury is proof that you are simply trying to make them pay for an injury you suffered years ago. Tell your attorney right away about any previous injuries you have.

You Still Deserve Compensation After a Crash

You having pre-existing injuries doesn’t give other drivers a free pass to drive negligently around you. The fact is that their driving choices aggravated your pre-existing injury. That pain and suffering would not have happened had they driven more safely.

You will likely not be entitled to full compensation for all of the damage suffered in the accident—your treating physician can determine how much damage existed prior to the accident and how much was caused by the accident—but you do still deserve to be compensated for injuries caused by the crash.

If you’re considering bringing this information to the other driver’s insurance provider, save yourself some time and stress. They aren’t interested in hearing it. A personal injury attorney, however, will be ready to fight for you. They’ll analyze your accident and injury information, then devise a plan for getting the compensation you are owed.

Reach Out to Reeves & Mestayer Today

If you have been hurt in a car accident, you deserve a shot at fair and full compensation. The team at Reeves & Mestayer is here to help you as you recover. Schedule a free consultation right now by calling us at 228-300-2754 or contacting our team online. Don’t let an unethical insurance adjuster talk you out of the compensation you are owed.

Reeves and Mestayer Wins $10 Million Verdict in Bad Faith Claim on Behalf of Hurricane Katrina Victim

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The estate of Sylvia Minor of Ocean Springs, MS has been awarded $10 million in punitive damages against USAA Insurance Company for denying their Hurricane Katrina damage claim in bad faith. Attorney Jim Reeves of Reeves and Mestayer served as co-counsel for the plaintiff in this case, and we are very pleased that the jury handed down an 8-figure award to punish the egregious conduct of that USAA displayed.

“This verdict should send a message to insurance companies that in the future when dealing with hurricane losses, the companies must promptly pay the claims that are owed,” Mr. Reeves said in a statement.

Naturally, USAA plans to appeal the verdict, calling the punitive damages that were awarded in this case “excessive”. But the evidence indicated that not only did the insurer wrongfully deny the plaintiff’s damage claims initially, but they also took more than seven years to finally pay certain claims – and they only did so after a lawsuit was filed.

Furthermore, this is far from an isolated incident when it comes to USAA’s bad faith business practices. Although they market themselves as the insurer that is always looking out for our military members and veterans, the records show a disturbing pattern of deceptive and unfair claims practices that date back several years.

This verdict is very timely as it came down just days before Hurricane Ian blasted a large stretch of Southwest Florida. In the aftermath of that storm, insurers like USAA will likely be up to their old tricks.

Hopefully, this verdict will make insurers think twice before they wrongfully deny damage claims filed by homeowners who have already had their lives turned upside down by a devastating hurricane. But if they persist with this type of conduct, firms like Reeves and Mestayer are ready to step in and fight hard to ensure that insurance carriers are held fully accountable for their actions.