Something that we see fairly routinely with car accident injuries are symptoms that include pain or tingling or numbness in the arm or hand of an individual.
These symptoms can arise from damage to the neck / spine of the individual. Often the cause will be damage to a nerve near your neck – the nerve becomes inflamed or compressed. This is often referred to as a ‘pinched’ nerve. For example, if the numbness/tingling is limited to the pinkie and ring finger, you may be suffering from ulnar nerve entrapment. Typically you would be sent for an EMG test which will try to determine which nerve is being compromised. The EMG test involves putting one or more small needles (electrodes) into your skin to test the muscles in your arm/neck to detect if there are any abnormalities in the normal muscle response to a stimulated nerve (i.e. the nerve is ‘stimulated’ by the electrode). These sorts of symptoms / injuries are NOT minor injuries and are NOT governed by the Minor Injury Regulation.
It’s important to talk to a personal injury lawyer to ensure you are receiving proper compensation for your injuries, no matter how small you might feel it is.