You’ve given years of your life to the construction injury, so it’s no wonder you have developed aches and pains over the years. But if you have lost feeling in your hands and fingers, you should be aware that nerve damage isn’t simply “part of the job”—it’s a serious vibration injury in NJ construction workers, and you may be owed compensation for it.
Regular use of power tools that vibrate the hands, fingers and arms can lead to hand arm vibration syndrome, or HAVS. This term covers a wide range of conditions caused by vibration exposure, including nerve damage, joint damage, circulation problems, and other injuries.
HAVS carries many symptoms and complications, including:
- Tingling in the fingers
- Loss of gripping strength in the hands
- Aches and pains in the hand and arm muscles
- Pins and needles in the hands and fingers
- Circulation problems that cause the blood to drain from the hands (vibration white finger)
- Raynaud's syndrome. This condition is normally triggered by cold weather, and causes the tips of the fingers (and in some cases the whole fingers) to turn white and cold for several minutes, then turn bright red when blood flow returns.
Depending on the level of your injury, your symptoms may last for minutes, hours, or for the rest of your life—and the longer you continue to use vibrating tools, the more likely you will suffer the effects.
If your ability to work has been affected by a construction injury, the law team at Manfred F. Ricciardelli, Jr. can help. Call us today at (877) 360-0183 to begin your FREE, one-on-one consultation, or click the link above to download our FREE electronic book, What the Injured Worker Needs to Know: Your Workers Comp Guide.