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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Negligence Claim

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a relatively common disease that, among other causes, is caused by repetitive motion of the wrist and fingers, particularly when typing or performing certain industrial jobs. The carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway where nerves and tendons pass through from the forearm to the hand. It is bound by ligaments and bones on both sides of the tunnel. When the wrist is moved back and forth repetitively, it causes swelling to the affected areas, pinching off the nerves particularly so there is numbness and pain to the hand.

Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome vary according to the severity of the disease. There is tingling or numbness in the fingers on the hand-particularly the thumb and the first three fingers, sparing the fourth finger and the side of the third finger that is next to the fourth finger. People with carpal tunnel syndrome will shake out the hand to get feeling back to it but eventually the numbness becomes unable to be stopped and is constant.

The pain can often radiate up to the arm and even as high as the shoulder. This happens later in the course of the disease and is usually affecting the palmar aspect of the forearm and upper arm. There is also weakness of the hands, often to the point of dropping things.

The cause of the disease is pressure on the median nerve that passes through the carpal tunnel. The median nerve affects sensation of the hand and the movement of the hand, which is why the condition affects motor function and sensory function. It affects the palm of the hand, the thumb and the fingers as mentioned above.

Contributing to getting carpal tunnel syndrome are arthritic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, fluid retention in pregnancy, amyloid deposition in the body, thyroid diseases and menopause. Obesity can contribute to the disease and women seem to get it more than men. Some people have a narrower carpal tunnel than others so they have a greater chance of causing damage to the median nerve than others.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is often a work-related condition, especially within industrial jobs, clerical jobs and jobs such as supermarket cashiers, who grab cans and boxes and move them from one place to another all the time without much break. People who use power tools like grinders and chippers or chainsaws will suffer from repetitive injuries more than other people. The vibration alone can trigger the onset of the disease.

Risk factors include gender. Women are three times as likely as men to get carpal tunnel syndrome. Some aspects of carpal tunnel are hereditary and include the shape of one's wrist as defined by your genes. Thyroid conditions, obesity, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis increase the risk of getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Pregnancy is a risk factor that fortunately gets better after a person is not pregnant.

Doctors will examine you in order to determine whether or not you have the signs of carpal tunnel syndrome. There is increased numbness and pain when flexing the wrist and holding it there. The doctor might tap on the median nerve in order to solicit a response from the individual. Doctors can do nerve conduction studies to show damage to the median nerve if the diagnosis is in question. This is called an electromyogram. Needles are inserted into the areas supplied by the nerve to look for conduction abnormalities. A nerve conduction study is a kind of electromyogram that uses electrodes attached to the skin.

Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome includes splinting of the wrist so it doesn't bend repetitively. Doctors also subscribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications to take down some of the inflammation in the wrist. Steroids can be injected into the wrist to shrink the swelling and to relieve the excess pressure on the nerve.

Surgery is used in cases where nonsurgical methods fail. The surgery, carpal tunnel repair, frees up the median nerve so it isn't so trapped within the bones and tendons. The ligament pressing on the nerve is usually cut and there is often improvement, if not resolution, of the symptoms. If the median nerve is damaged beyond repair, there will be residual damage to the nerve and residual pain and numbness.