Jobs that require you to use repetitive motions of different body parts can cause major damage to your nerves. One of the nerve issues could be peripheral neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy is typically diagnosed after some sort of damage has occurred to the nerves in your body. This damage could be from a sudden impact such as a fall or a car accident, or by repeating the same motion over and over again. In other words, it happens all of the time under Illinois workers’ compensation law.
The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy include numbness, prickling or tingling in your hands and feet that eventually could travel up your arms. Extreme cases also can include sensitivity to touch, muscle weakness, heat intolerance and much more. The good news is this condition is treatable and there are medications available that can help reduce the pain while your body heals. The bad news is that insurance companies fight these cases very often and if your treatment gets delayed your injuries can become permanent and life altering.
If you have fallen, or been in an accident, or use repetitive motions at your job and you are experiencing nerve damage symptoms, you may have a workers compensation case. The first thing you should do is go to a doctor and have a complete examination. Make sure you explain to your doctor from the first meeting that this happened at work or if it’s a repetitive trauma situation, that you suspect it is work related. Make sure to be very descriptive of what happened and/or your job duties.
Work you’re your doctor and follow their recommendations, which may even include a nerve conduction study or EMG. All of your doctor’s appointments, medications, and treatments related to the damage should be covered as well as possible compensation for missed work while you heal. That means no co-pays and no out of pocket expenses related to your care.
It’s extremely important to have a lawyer in your corner who understands the medicine behind neuropathy and can show how it is related to your job duties or a job injury. If you want our help with a case, we’d be happy to talk with you for free. We cover all of Illinois and have been helping injured workers for over 20 years. Fill out our contact form or call us at (312) 346-5578 any time and we will do whatever we can for you.
