Key facts about carpal tunnel syndrome
Not all workplace injuries are the result of one drastic event, like a car accident or a fall from a ladder. With repetitive motion injuries, the problem slowly builds up over time.
This doesn’t make it any less detrimental to your ability to work. A repetitive motion injury like carpal tunnel syndrome can be so painful that you can’t do your job without treatment. While some repetitive motion injuries are temporary, others are permanent.
To better understand the risks you face, here are a few key facts about carpal tunnel syndrome:
- The issue involves your median nerve and the tendons and ligaments that surround it. They get irritated and inflamed, and the swelling then compresses the nerve, causing intense pain.
- Along with pain, you may feel numbness.
- You could also feel like you’re more clumsy than you were before, perhaps due to a loss of motion. Strength and flexibility may also decrease.
- If nothing is done, you could experience a complete loss of function.
- Those who suffer from the disorder often work on assembly lines or computers.
- Your dominant hand is most likely to be impacted, though either hand could be.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome is three times as common for women as it is for men.
- Children typically do not get the disorder.
- Other issues may contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome. These could include rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, pregnancy, diabetes or past wrist trauma and injury.
Are you suffering from work-related injuries that built up over time, through repetitive motion? If so, it is very important for you to know all of your potential rights to workers’ compensation and what legal steps you need to take.
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine, “Repetitive Motion Injury,” accessed Feb. 23, 2018