Disability Law

Carpal Tunnel Diagnosis Need Not Arise from Repetitive Motion Job Tasks

By Jodi Ginsberg

In our Georgia workers compensation law practice, we regularly see carpal tunnel cases.  Carpel tunnel syndrome arises when the muscles in the wrist swell and compress the nerve running down the arm into the hand.  When this median nerve gets squeezed, you will experience pain, numbness and tingling in the hands.  In severe cases, a patient can suffer permanent nerve damage.  Females are more likely than males to develop carpel tunnel syndrome.

If rest does not resolve the condition, the usual treatment for carpel tunnel injuries is surgery called a carpel tunnel release expands the space for the nerve and tendons and thereby relieves the pressure on the nerve.

Carpel tunnel injuries usually arise from repetitive motion type jobs.  Examples of these types of jobs include:

• deboning chickens
• typing
• sewing
• meat packing
• small parts assemblers

At Ginsberg Law Offices, we represent many carpel tunnel claimants.  An important part of our work is to get our clients to a doctor who specializes in wrist, hand and repetitive motion injuries and to see to it that our clients get appropriate rehabilitation care.

While most carpel tunnel cases do involve repetitive motion injury, a carpel tunnel case can also arise from a traumatic injury such as a fall or even a neck injury.  These types of traumatic accidents can cause swelling to the tissues in the wrist which can result in a carpel tunnel diagnosis.  Therefore, if you are experiencing swelling, pain, numbness and tingling in your hands and wrist but you do not have a job that involves repetitive motion, do not rule out a work related carpel tunnel injury.

Because you may not have recognized the implications of a fall or sudden trauma to the arms, you need to think about how to report your injury and how you word your WC-14.  If you are facing this type of situation, please feel free to call me to discuss your options.

Thanks to my colleague, Michael Helfand, a Chicago based Illinois workers' compensation lawyer who wrote about non-repetitive motion carpel tunnel issues in his Illinois Workers Compensation blog.

Full post as published by Georgia Workers Compensation blog on December 06, 2008 (boomark / email).