Nerve Damage

Injured and disabled workers rely on the Massachusetts disability lawyers at Kantrovitz & Associates to recover compensation for their harm. After 20 years in practice, our Boston firm remains dedicated to providing individualized service to employees throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. We work diligently after a workplace injury to help you obtain the payments you deserve.

Nerve Damage

Nerves are essential to the human body. Autonomic nerves control digestion, heart rate, and blood pressure while motor nerves transfer signals between the brain and the body. Without the nerves running along the spinal cord, we could not feel any sensation at all. Nerve damage therefore affects every aspect of life and may appear in symptoms including:

• Pain or burning
• Numb sensations
• Sweating, nausea
• Tingling, twitching
• Sexual dysfunction
• Weakness, paralysis
• Bowel, bladder issues
• Muscular degeneration
• Loss of vision or hearing
• Lost balance, coordination

Nerve damage affects over 20 million Americans and is still not fully understood. With more than 100 nerve types in the human body, people may have symptoms showing damage to multiple nerves, making diagnosis and treatment difficult. While most causes of nerve damage are unknown, many are discovered during work or exacerbated by job-related accidents and injuries.

Nerve Damage Causes

While nerve damage has often been blamed for unrelenting pain or sensitivity to touch, its causes remain a mystery. Over 50 percent of all nerve disorders are caused by diabetes, a common preexisting condition under workers’ compensation law. Other possible causes of nerve pain and damage may involve:

• Slip and falls
• Carpal tunnel
• Bone fractures
• Crushing injuries
• Traffic accidents
• Head, neck injuries
• Strokes, heart attacks
• Spinal cord damage
• Autoimmune disease
• Degenerative arthritis
• Repetitive stress injuries
• Compression or trauma

Unfortunately, the same drugs used to treat terminal illnesses are also major contributors to nerve damage, including prescription medications. Workers may also be exposed to hazardous toxins in the workplace such as lead, arsenic, and mercury that damage nerves. Over time, the toxins leaking out of the nerves can spread, causing permanent impairment and disability.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Workers’ compensation is a type of insurance protecting employers from liability for work-related injuries. In Massachusetts, employers and their insurers are required to pay benefits to employees with nerve damage and other injuries sustained at work, regardless of fault. Neuropathy that is caused or exacerbated by work qualifies as a compensable injury. Injured workers are entitled to benefits that may include:

• Lost income
• Medical costs
• Work retraining
• Physical therapy
• Mileage, parking
• Prescription drugs
• Surgery, treatment
• Lump-sum payments
• Loss of function costs

Disability claims involving nerve damage are the most common workers’ compensation claims, accounting for more than half of all occupational diseases and disabilities in the United States. The impairment often prevents workers from performing at full capacity or returning to the same type of work. The severity of the disability determines the award and is regulated by the injured workers’ average weekly wage and schedule of losses of bodily function related to nerve damage.

Help Filing a Claim

If your nerve damage was caused or exacerbated by work, contact the Massachusetts workers’ compensation attorneys at Kantrovitz & Associates today. Whether your claim involves physical or mental injury, we can help you succeed. For over 20 years, we have obtained maximum compensation for countless injured workers. Our Boston office serves nerve damage victims and workers who suffer from other injuries in Middlesex, Essex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Merrimack Counties. Call 800-367-0871 for a free consultation or contact us online.