Article: Go to the emergency room immediately if you have had an acute injury and you are experiencing numbness or tingling in your extremities. If you have cut yourself on something sharp, try to staunch the bleeding as you go to the emergency room.  Nerve damage due to knives in the kitchen or broken glass is fairly common. Visit the emergency room if you have had recent contact with lead, arsenic, mercury or other toxic substances. They need to be flushed from your body before repair can start. If the nerve has been completely severed, this may be necessary in order to start repair. If the surgery is successful, the nerve will grow and repair at a rate of approximately one inch per month. Nerve grafts often require the removal of nerve fiber from another part of the body. The area from which it was taken may remain numb after the surgery. Your body will typically go through four phases of repairing nerve damage. This repairing requires the cells to heal and “retune” themselves to properly send signals to the brain.  This may require physical therapy. A professional will help you train your body to heal properly by doing incremental range-of-motion exercises. This may require time. Nerve repair may not happen overnight. It may take weeks, months, or years to heal. In severe cases, nerve function may not repair fully. Your doctor should be able to give you a prognosis about how long it will take to heal from a specific injury.
What is a summary of what this article is about?
Seek medical attention. Consider surgery to reconnect or graft nerves. Retrain your body.