Could These 10 Symptoms Mean You Have Nerve Damage?

5. Increased Clumsiness

Depending on the affected nerve, falling, stumbling, or dropping things more frequently can be signs of nerve damage. One example of this is carpal tunnel syndrome, which can cause numbness and tingling in the hands that can lead to someone dropping things more frequently. Damage to large nerve fibers, which control our movements, can also increase clumsiness. Large nerve fibers mediate multiple functions, including proprioception, which is our sense of body position, self-movement, and force. If proprioception is affected, someone with nerve damage may bump into things, trip, or drop items more often.