3 Telltale Symptoms of Nerve Damage

If you’ve been injured in an accident, had a fall, or have experienced some other type of physical trauma, your body sustains damage in a variety of ways: cuts, bruises, and broken bones, to name a few. If the wound is deep enough, you may have nerve damage. 

Our board-certified orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jonathan Shults, with Coastal Empire Orthopedics, repairs damaged nerves and restores necessary function in a hand, arm, leg, or other part of the body. 

Nerve function 

Your nerves are your body’s mechanism that controls your ability to move, your ability to feel sensations, and your ability to coordinate movements that allow you to accomplish everyday tasks. You have 43 pairs of nerves that begin in the spinal cord and spread throughout your body to your extremities. If you sustain significant nerve damage in an area of your body, that area may fail to function as it should. You may not be able to raise your arm or move the fingers in your hand. Nerve damage can impair mobility and cause disability. 

Minor vs. major nerve damage

Sometimes, nerve damage is relatively minor. For example, you’ve had an operation to repair a torn ACL in your knee. After the operation, you’ll likely have some numbness from damaged nerves. It’ll improve over time, but you may always have some residual loss of feeling.  However, since it doesn’t impact your mobility, it’s simply a fact of life after the operation. 

In other cases, where nerve damage causes lasting pain or other symptoms that interfere with mobility, you’ll need nerve repair. For example, you accidentally cut yourself and have a deep knife wound, or you work with a machine with blades and have a deep cut in your arm, leg, or hand. Your injury may have resulted from a motor vehicle accident or a fall from a motorcycle or bike. Because of severe damage to nerves, you may not be able to move your arm or hand, which you need to do for your work. 

The following are three common symptoms of nerve damage. 

Numbness

Do you have a lack of feeling around the site of your injury? Numbness is a sign of nerve damage. The nerves aren’t sending messages to your brain telling you something is too hot or cold. If part of your hand is numb, you won’t be able to feel yourself being burned by a hot coal or stove burner. If you don’t remove your hand, you’ll suffer severe injury. 

Weakness 

If you've damaged or cut nerves in your arm or leg, you likely won't be able to move the arm or leg normally. They'll feel weak. This may interfere with your ability to work on a job or do everyday tasks. 

Pain

If you feel constant or intermittent pain at the site of your injury, especially after initial healing, you likely have nerve damage. Pain can be very intense when you have nerve damage. It can cause nerves to send pain signals spontaneously. 

Treating nerve damage 

How we treat nerve damage depends on your injury's severity and level of disability. When there is enough nerve left to connect the ends together, we can clear out damaged tissue and reconnect the ends. If not enough nerve is left, we can perform a nerve graft. 

Call Coastal Empire Orthopedics or book an appointment online if you suspect you have nerve damage. We’ll get you on the road to recovery.