All of the nerves that serve your arms and legs branch out from your spinal cord. The nerves that serve your shoulders, arms, and hands come from the top of the spine/cervical spine. The nerves that serve your bottom, legs, and feet come from the lower/lumbar spine. Whenever you experience nerve damage from an accident, you need to have a full medical evaluation to find, demonstrate, and treat this nerve damage.
Your nerves basically wire your body by carrying impulses from your brain to your muscles and organs and back again. It is these impulses that tell your body what to do. The signals from your brain can be disrupted or completely interrupted through nerve damage, also known as peripheral neuropathy.
One example of a type of worker who is at risk of nerve damage is a construction worker who might fall from a great height, leading to an injury that irritates or pinches a nerve. Nerves can be stretched, severed, or compressed by herniated disks and other injuries. This can cause symptoms like paralysis, general numbness and tingling, and significant pain. If the nerve damage occurs in the lower back, then you may even lose control of your bladder. This damage can be permanent if the nerve is entirely severed. If it is simply compressed, then surgery may release whatever pressure is causing it (i.e. herniated disk). If the nerve is only irritated, then it may heal through physical therapy, chiropractic care, exercise, and/or rest.
When it comes to Philadelphia car accidents, nerve damage is a fairly common result because of spinal injuries like herniated and bulging disks, resulting in mild to severe pain. When you’ve experienced nerve damage through a Pennsylvania car accident, contact a Philadelphia nerve damage attorney for a free consultation of your case.