4 Ways Hand Injuries Can Impact Work & Everyday Life
Dealing with a personal injury case often involves big life changes while healing through an injury. This is why it's important to work with a personal injury attorney and document your pain and suffering as much as possible. Even something as small as a hand injury could have large implications on your daily work and personal life.
As you work on your case with a personal injury attorney, consider the following four ways that a hand injury can impact all aspects of your life. Capturing details and evidence can go a long way in receiving proper compensation for these injuries.
Driving
A hand injury can dramatically change the way you drive and even cause you to stop driving until the hand is healed. A hand injury can keep you from being able to perform simple tasks like putting on blinkers or steering. If you are forced to seek alternative methods of driving, it's a good idea to document all of this for your attorney.
- Public Transportation: Collect taxi receipts, bus passes, or subway passes that may have been used as an alternate to driving yourself.
- Less Mileage: Compare the mileage that you drove before the accident to the mileage you drove after. Keeping a mileage log is the best way to document this.
- Car Pooling: Keep track of rides received from friends or family members. This can lead to a lot of waiting or delays in getting transportation.
Cooking
A hand injury may not seem like it would affect your daily nutrition, but it can have a direct link based on your ability to cook daily meals. There are multiple ways a hand injury can change your daily eating habits. This could lead to more take-out or microwaveable meals.
- Cutting & Slicing: Without the use of your primary hand, you may struggle to properly cut vegetables and meats. Writing a log of the main meals you ate and preparation instructions can help represent this.
- Kitchen Tools: Small tools like can openers or peelers may be harder to use due to a hand injury. It's a good idea to document this struggle or even videotape it if your lawyer requests it.
- Meal Services: To continue eating healthy, you may have to order specialty meals or delivery services. Saving receipts can help you get compensation as part of the case.
Exercise
Along with having proper nutrition, your daily exercise may be impacted because of your hand.
- Lifting Weights: Arm strength could be impacted with the inability to properly lift weights.
- Physical Therapy: Extra costs may be put towards physical therapy to help rebuild strength and movement. These costs should be covered through a personal injury settlement.
- Gym Memberships: If you pay a gym membership, you may be wasting money if you're unable to attend due to the hand injury.
Electronics Operation
The use of electronics is a part of daily life. A hand injury could dramatically change that way you use or access these devices.
- Computers & Tablets: Touch screens, keyboards, and mice may become a big challenge to use with a hand injury. This can impact both work and home life.
- Cell Phones: Texting, using apps, or dialing numbers is often a challenge with only one hand. Comparing text and call rates before and after the injury could show a large difference.
- Video Games: Playing video games may be a hobby, but a hand injury could come with big costs. If you're unable to play video games, you may be losing out on costs for online subscriptions or pre-ordered games. Document all of this with your lawyer to help build the case.
Give as many details to your lawyer as possible. This will cover all the aspects of your life and get the full compensation to represent your injury.