A dog’s powerful jaws can crack bones, and its sharp teeth can puncture skin and damage soft tissue like muscles and ligaments. However, some of the worst damage a person can suffer is to their nerves, which often lead to pain and weakness.
As experienced premises liability lawyers in Miami, we can obtain compensation for pain and suffering after a dog bite. Please contact our law firm today.
Types of Nerve Damage
The dog’s teeth can severely damage nerves, sometimes permanently. Broken bones can also slice and injure nearby nerves, causing considerable pain and complications.
There are 3 types of nerve damage:
- Neuropraxia. This is the least serious nerve damage, which is caused when nerves are stretched but not severed. Damage is caused to the nerve’s myelin sheath, which impairs its function. Despite being less serious than other nerve damage, neuropraxia can still cause a person to feel numbness or pain for months.
- Axonotmesis. This type of nerve damage results after injury to the axons and the myelin sheath and is more serious than neuropraxia. Recovery might take years.
- Neurotmesis. This is the most severe type of nerve injury that occurs when the nerve is actually severed. Surgery can sometimes reconnect nerves so that they work, though surgery rarely can make a person feel 100% like they did before. With neurotmesis, surgery is sometimes unsuccessful, and a person might not have normal functioning or sensation.
To give yourself the best chance of recovery, please visit the hospital as soon as possible after a dog attack. The surgeon can assess the severity of your nerve damage and recommend a course of treatment.
Compensation for Nerve Damage
Our dog bite clients can receive compensation for medical care and, if they miss work, for lost wages. However, Florida law allows for additional compensation for certain losses that are not economic in nature.
Pain and suffering damages, for example, compensate for the physical pain a client feels after an attack. Many people suffering from nerve damage experience a burning sensation, tingling, or “pins and needles” in the affected limb. Any difficulty with mobility is also a form of suffering that warrants compensation.
When a person suffers permanent nerve damage in their face, they also experience intense emotional distress. A “droopy” appearance often results due to nerve injury, and we can seek compensation for this distress as well.
Give Us a Call
A Miami dog bite lawyer is standing by if you call 305-371-2692. Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein offers a free consultation.