Experiencing Upper Limb Weakness After an Accident? Read This

If you have been in a car accident and are experiencing weakness or tingling in your upper limbs, they could be the symptoms of a serious problem. This can be debilitating and frustrating since we use our arms hundreds of times a day for a multitude of tasks.

If you experience nerve or muscle damage that is affecting your strength following an accident, keep reading to learn how our team at Impact Medical Sun City Center can help you recover.

Upper Limb Weakness

Upper limb weakness can occur in all kinds of accidents, not just high-speed crashes. Even a minor rear-end collision can cause whiplash injuries that will affect the nerves, muscles, and tendons in your back, neck, arms, and shoulders.

You should always see a doctor following a car crash, but it is especially important to do so if you notice weakness or tingling in your arms or hands, as these can be a sign of nerve damage.

The causes of upper limb weakness following an auto accident include:

Disc Herniation or Spinal Misalignment

Often when arm weakness and pain develop, the underlying cause is in the cervical region of the spine. This can happen due to a jolt of energy during a car accident, where the spine is forced out of place, causing a disc herniation. This spinal misalignment or disc herniation can cause radiating pain and weakness in the upper limbs. 

Muscle Spasms

If your muscles are stretched past their limits during a car crash, they can become vulnerable to muscle spasms. This is your body’s way of protecting you from further injury. However, this overstretching of muscle fibers can weaken your upper limbs, and the subsequent muscle spasms can hinder muscle repair.

Nerve Damage

Upper arm weakness is often caused by nerve damage because when injured, nerves cannot carry out the functions that involve your muscles and tissues. Whiplash, lacerations and blunt-force trauma in a car accident can all damage your nerves and cause upper limb weakness.

Nerves carry signals throughout the body and are essential to its functioning. They can be damaged in a variety of ways including bruising, compression, tearing, or being crushed. The types of nerve damage include:

• Radiculopathy: Injuries to the roots of the nerves that branch off your spine.
• Peripheral neuropathy: Damage to the peripheral nerves outside of your brain and spinal cord, such as the median or ulnar nerves in your arms.
• Myelopathy: the compression or damage to your spinal cord.

Symptoms of Nerve Damage After a Car Accident

The most common nerve locations injured during a car accident are the spine and arms. Signs of nerve damage will differ depending on where you suffered the injury, but typically include:

• Numbness and tingling
• Shooting or radiating pain
• Muscle weakness
• Decreased range of motion
• Decreased or lost reflexes

While some of these symptoms can be resolved with chiropractic care or physical therapy, nerve damage is serious and can be permanent.

Treating Upper Limb Weakness

If you are experiencing upper arm weakness following an accident you must receive medical care as soon as possible. Our team at Impact Medical Sun City Center has treated victims of all kinds of car crashes, from high-speed to tame fender benders. As a result, we can accurately diagnose the source of your upper limb weakness and treat the pain that it may be causing.

Our chiropractic and physical therapy teams can manipulate your spine and adjust your muscles to alleviate the muscle weakness and pain and ensure that your central nervous system is functioning properly.

Spinal Decompression & Manual

Alongside chiropractic adjustments, you may also benefit from spinal decompression therapy. This is a non-surgical technique that uses flexion-distraction to increase the space between two or more vertebrae in the spine. It pulls herniated discs inward and away from nerve roots that are causing pain and weakness.

Soft tissue therapies like manual and physical therapy can do a world of good for those suffering from muscle weakness. Manual therapy can release muscle tightness that could be impairing nerve function after an accident. Further, physical therapy can help strengthen and develop atrophied muscles so your body can move better without pain or weakness.

Feeling Weak? We Can Help You Recover Your Strength

If you are feeling weakness in your upper limbs due to subluxations, pinched nerves, or herniated discs after an accident, don’t wait. Come visit our team at Impact Medical Sun City Center today.

We successfully treat these kinds of problems daily and can help you regain your mobility. Schedule an appointment today; 813-536-5892!