Eye Injury Attorney

Do You Need an Attorney Who Will Fight For You To Get The Most Compensation For Your Eye Injury Claim?

Some say that the eyes are the window to the soul. Whether or not it’s true that people can see your soul through your eyes, it is definitely true that your eyes are your window to the world. In fact, three-quarters of what we know of the world come to us in the form of visual stimuli—that is, as long as the eyes are working well.

One of the most serious injuries a person can suffer is an injury to the eye. Being able to see is something that most of us take for granted until it’s taken away from us. Our sight allows us to recognize our loved ones’ faces, enjoy a good movie, and take in a beautiful sunset. For nearly all of us, sight is essential to performing our jobs.

A severe injury to one or both eyes can turn all of that upside down, requiring you to adapt your way of living and even to seek out a new livelihood. Although some injuries may be due to another person’s negligence, understanding the ways in which you could injure your eyes and how to protect your eyes from potential harm can be helpful to maintaining good eye health.

Getting On The Phone With An Attorney

If your eye injury occurred because of someone else’s misconduct, seek medical attention and then get in touch with an eye injury attorney for direction. A free consultation with an eye injury lawyer can enable you to know what to do legally. The catastrophic injury lawyers at My Rights Law are dedicated to helping clients recover compensation in eye injury cases. We will take the time to evaluate your situation, advise you about potential legal solutions, and aggressively pursue all remedies against those who are responsible. Most cases are handled by the firm on a contingency fee basis, which means that we don’t charge attorney’s fees unless you prevail against the responsible party in your case. Don’t just hire any law firm or any personal injury attorneys for this type of matter. Consider the skilled personal injury lawyers at My Rights Law. For a free consultation with My Rights Law, call (888) 702-8882 or contact us by filling out our secure web form.

The Anatomy Of The Eye

As you might imagine, the eyes are complex structures with many working parts that all have to be functioning correctly for you to be able to see well. The part of the eye that is visible when you look in the mirror is just a small part of the total eye structure. It is what is under the surface, mostly out of view, that makes the eyes function as they should to show you the world.

The eyes are sphere-like structures, though not perfectly round, about the size of large grapes. They are held in and protected by the surrounding bones, called the eye sockets or orbits, which include seven bones that make up the cheekbones, forehead, top of the nose, and the bones behind the eyes.

Muscles that attach the eye to the eye socket are called extraocular muscles. These muscles move the eyes around in the eye sockets to let you look back and forth and up and down. Blood vessels and nerves come to these muscles and to the areas around the eyes to maintain the health of the muscles and tissues.

The eyelids help to protect the eyes from foreign particles and bright light. Small hairs called eyelashes grow from the eyelids to add extra protection from dust or other small particles in the air that could scratch or harm the surface of the eyes. The watery fluid surrounds the surface of the eyes to act as a buffer in case particles do reach the eyes. The eyelids close to allow the fluid to reach the front of the eyes and to lubricate the surface of the eyes so that they do not get too dry.

At the front of the eye is a clear, small, dome-like structure called the cornea, which focuses light on the eye. The space behind the cornea is filled with a fluid that helps to regulate your eye pressure for proper eye function.

Next comes the iris, which is the colored part of your eye, and the pupil, the dark hole in the center. Small muscles connect to the pupil to make it smaller (constricted) or larger (dilated) in order to let in the right amount of light for your eyes to be able to focus. If it’s bright outside, the pupil may constrict so that less light can enter, protecting your inner eye from the harsh light and allowing your eye to focus. Conversely, if it’s dark out, the pupil may dilate to try to allow in as much light as possible so that you can see.

Right behind the pupil is the lens, which focuses the light on the retina, a light-sensitive tissue on the back wall of the eyeball. The light that passes through the lens travels through a different, gel-like fluid before it reaches the retina. The retina has receptors called rods and cones that are triggered by different light levels and colors. From the retina, nerve signals travel to the optic nerve, which exits from the back of the eye and relays the impulses to the brain. The brain then interprets the signals as images so that you can see the world around you.

What Are The Types Of Eye Injuries?

There are many types of injuries that can cause pain or even damage to the structures of the eye. Eye injuries may involve damage to the eye sockets or muscles around the eyes, injury to the outer surface of the eyeball, damage to the structures within the eye, or issues with the pressure inside the eyeball that is necessary for proper functioning. The range of damage that eye injuries can do to your vision can range from temporary problems to severe damage that can cause permanent vision impairment or even blindness.

What Are The Common Causes Of Eye Injuries?

Some of the most common causes of eye injuries are:

• Impact to the area around the eye, such as being hit by a fist or being struck by a ball
• Pieces of material that are propelled into the eye, which could be as damaging as shards of glass or a sliver of wood
• Damage from flying objects, such as a dart, the hook end of a bungee cord, or a bullet
• Splashes of abrasive chemicals
• Accidents at work or around the house that can scratch the surface of the eye
• Small particles like sand or dust

Even the sun can cause damage to your eyes if it is too intense. This can particularly be an issue when snow skiing or playing around water because the reflective glare of the light off of the snow or water can magnify the sun’s rays.

Complications with medical care or procedures can also have damaging effects on the eyes. For example, a surgical procedure, such as laser eye surgery, could go awry and cause irreparable damage to your eye instead of improving your vision. Alternatively, an ophthalmologist may misdiagnose, or fail to diagnose, a serious eye condition. The delay in appropriate medical intervention might result in additional harm to your eyes that could have been prevented.

What Are The Symptoms Of Eye Injuries?

Depending on how the eye injury happens, you may be aware of the problem immediately, or symptoms may take some time to develop. Obvious injuries, such as a scratch or bruise from an impact to the area around the eye or to the eye itself, usually can be easily identified. Some signs of a potentially serious injury include:

• Persistent pain in the eye
• Vision impairment or difficulty focusing with an eye
• A cut or tear to your eyelid
• An eye that moves less smoothly or differently from the other eye
• An eye that is sticking out from the eye socket further than the other eye
• A strange shape or size to the pupil
• Blood visible in the clear fluid of the eye
• A small particle that is stuck under the eyelid or behind the eye that won’t go away with blinking and natural tear fluid

These symptoms could be warning signs of more serious problems that require medical attention. With any of these symptoms, it is best to consult a doctor or eye expert as soon as possible.

Preventative Measures

Many eye injuries could be avoided with the use of proper eyewear and protective equipment. Wearing safety glasses while performing yard work, cleaning, or making home repairs can help to keep dangerous objects or chemical vapors from your eyes. Sunglasses or UV-protective goggles can protect the sensitive tissues of your eyes from the risks of overexposure while involved in outdoor recreation. A face shield or protective glasses while playing badminton, squash, hockey, lacrosse, or batting in a baseball game can help to soften or prevent the impact from an object that might cause damage to the eye socket or the eyeball itself.

Eye Injury Lawsuits

If your eye was injured in an accident that was caused by someone else, you might have a personal injury claim against that person, who is called the defendant in the claim. A lawyer who understands the intricacy of the eyes and the severity of your eye injury can evaluate your claim and answer your questions.

Legal Filing Timelines

It’s important to act quickly because legal timelines limit the time you have to file your case. These rules, called “statutes of limitations,” put a limit of two years, usually, on your legal claim, so that if you don’t file it by then, it is gone.

Process Of A Court Case

To begin your legal claim, there are notices and other important papers to file, called “pleadings” in the law. After your lawyer has filed your claim in court, attorneys for everyone involved in the case will communicate with each other and begin what they call “discovery,” which means each side learns about the claims and facts that the other side knows of that support their case.

Your lawyer will probably have you consult with medical experts for further evaluation of your injuries. Lawyers for everyone in the case will gather all your medical records and information related to the case.

Compensation For Injuries

The law allows you to make a monetary claim to compensate for the injuries you’ve suffered and the bills you’ve had to pay. Your injuries, when converted into a dollar amount, are called “damages” in the law. There are a few different types of damages, but mostly two types of damages that apply in an eye injury case.

One type of damages is called “economic damages,” and it covers medical bills you’ve had to incur for doctor visits, lab tests, medications, and any other medical supplies or equipment. Economic damages also include lost wages if your injury took you away from your work for some time.

The other type of damages is called “non-economic damages,” and this category covers things that aren’t usually measured in dollars, like the pain of the injury, anxiety, and stress of hospital visits, changes you’ve had to make in your life to adapt to the situation, and more. These damages are often labeled together as “pain and suffering” as well as a few other categories of emotional loss that can be a part of a serious eye injury.

Know Your Legal Rights

To understand your legal rights and the claim you may have after your injury, consult with a personal injury lawyer with experience in the type of injury you have had. An experienced lawyer understands what is needed to prove your case and how to evaluate the damages that you’ve suffered. While most eye injuries tend to be the result of accidents at home and personal failure to wear protective eyewear, sometimes another person’s negligence (carelessness) could be to blame for your eye injury. If you suffered an eye injury that was caused by someone else’s negligence, contacting a lawyer with experience in eye injury claims is a must.