Given how badly an auto accident can cause injury, you may feel fortunate if you emerge from a crash with minor pain symptoms that go away quickly. Still, you should monitor your health carefully in the days ahead. Sometimes an accident inflicts injury on nerves and signs do not immediately show up.
WebMD describes a variety of ways nerve damage can create problems. Recognizing symptoms of nerve injury early on may lead you to seek treatment before they become worse.
Problems with sensations and touch
Some nerve injury patients experience problems when they try to grab or touch something. Their fingers may feel sensitive or have a prickling, burning or tingling sensation. You might also suffer pain if you use your hands. It is also possible that your fingers will feel numb and do not pick up any sensations from contacting a surface.
Problems with body functions
Given that your autonomic nerves help regulate the different parts of your body, anything that feels amiss could indicate problems with those nerves. You could feel dizzy, sweat too much or too little, or have dryness of the mouth or eyes. Sometimes autonomic nerve problems affect your ability to use the restroom or participate in intimate activity.
Autonomic nerve damage could be particularly dangerous if it interferes with feeling chest pain. Some people experience angina or even a heart attack and they do not know it because some of their autonomic nerves do not convey the sensations.
Motor function difficulties
Perhaps the most obvious form of nerve damage happens when you feel problems walking. Nerve injury can interfere with your muscles, which can make just about any motor function problematic. Some nerve injury patients have issues picking up objects, balancing, or walking. Facial twitching could also occur. The loss of nerve function sometimes causes muscles to waste away.
If you understand you have nerve damage, you may keep it in mind if you become involved in a case for damages, as you may want compensation for your medical expenses.
