If you’ve regularly worked with power tools or heavy machinery and it’s caused discomfort and pain, you may have experienced Vibration White Finger (VFW). This is a type of workplace injury, so you may be eligible for workers’ compensation in California if this happens as a result of your work duties.
VFW can be a serious work injury
VFW can occur when you use power tools and heavy machinery often. It causes numbness and tingling in your fingers and the rest of your hands. This numbness can lead to the whitening of fingertips. The vibration of what you’re handling causes these issues, but it can also be triggered by the cold. VFW also may occur from reduced blood flow to the fingers, and it affects blood vessels.
VFW is considered a secondary form of Raynaud’s phenomenon, though Raynaud’s tends to be milder. VFW ends up causing more serious issues over time.
Further symptoms of VFW
Several symptoms accompany numbness when you have VFW. You may experience the following:
- difficulty when it comes to picking up smaller objects
- issues with small motor skills
- thumb pain that occurs when you grip objects
- loss of strength in your arms and hands
- weakness in your fingers and the rest of your hands
Ability to work while you have VFW
If you’re dealing with VFW symptoms, you may still be able to work and switch to lighter tasks that don’t involve the same activities you were doing that led to these workplace injury issues. If you need medical treatment and aren’t able to work as much or at all due to your VFW, you may have a case for workers’ compensation.
It’s in your best interest to get a checkup if you have numbness, tingling, whitening of your fingertips, and/or related issues. As long as a professional diagnoses this early enough, you stand a good chance at recovery.
