Nerves, tendons, & ligaments
Nerves, tendons, and ligaments are different structures in the body that when damaged can cause injury or permanent disability. Knowing about nerves, tendons, and ligaments, how to know if they’ve been damaged, and how to avoid damaging them can make self-harm safer.
Nerves
Nerves send signals throughout your body enabling you to feel and move. Some nerves control things like breathing.
Nerves can be damaged from cuts, burns, blunt force trauma (“bruising”), or other injuries. Damage to nerves can cause paralysis, numbness, and other changes in movement or sensation. If you think you have damaged a nerve, seek medical attention. If you sever or severely damage a nerve, it will not repair itself without medical attention.
Symptoms of nerve damage include…
- Paralysis (the inability to move)*
- Pain
- Weakness
- Numbness/loss of feeling*
- Tingling
- Tremors/shaking
- Imbalance
- Involuntary movement
*Seek immediate emergency medical attention
Avoiding nerve damage
Knowing the location of nerves makes them easier to avoid, you can look up diagrams of the locations of nerves in different body parts by Googling “nerves in the [body part]”. More major nerves are deeper in your skin or muscle.
Nerves are sometimes visible, they look like small white cords, but often you cannot see them. Touching a nerve will cause pain, numbness, or tingling.
Tendons and ligaments
Tendons connect muscle to bone; ligaments connect bone to bone. They make it so you are able to move, damage to them can cause paralysis. If you think you have damaged a tendon, seek immediate emergency medical attention.
Symptoms of tendon or ligament damage include…*
- Paralysis/inability to move
- Pain
- Weakness
- If you cut through a tendon/ligament, you will see it spring apart
*Seek immediate emergency medical attention if you believe you have damaged a tendon or ligament.
Avoiding tendon/ligament damage
Tendons are located throughout the body underneath muscle and in-between bone. The best way to avoid tendons is to avoid cutting or burning through muscle. Cutting in the same direction that tendons go (usually the same direction as muscle) means you are less likely to damage them. There are also more tendons and ligaments near joints.
Tendons and ligaments look like narrow flat white cords, sometimes they have a shiny surface. If you cut through a tendon/ligament, you will see it spring apart