You were in a car accident, and since then, you have had numbness and tingling in your thumb and index finger. Could you have carpal tunnel? You may wonder if the car accident had anything to do with it. The short answer is yes, in some cases, a car accident can cause carpal tunnel syndrome.
How can a car accident cause carpal tunnel syndrome?
Carpal tunnel results in pain, numbness, and tingling in the arm and the hand. Any trauma to the wrist that causes swelling and compression of the median nerve can cause traumatic carpal tunnel syndrome. In a car accident, this trauma can occur if you:
- Sprained or broke your wrist and injured the median nerve
- Put your hands out to brace yourself. Many people do this when they believe an accident is going to occur (e.g., sitting at a red light and see the car in your rearview mirror is not going to stop). By doing this, people place their wrists under immense pressure and risk injuring the median nerve.
How can traumatic carpal tunnel syndrome affect my life?
Your wrists are essential to the daily functions we do not think about unless we are unable to perform them. For example, you might be unable to:
- Brush your teeth
- Get dressed by yourself (carpal tunnel syndrome makes it difficult to manipulate buttons and zippers)
- Pick up your child
- Carry a bag of groceries
- Hold something without dropping it
In addition to performing everyday tasks at home, traumatic carpal tunnel syndrome may make it difficult or impossible for you to do your job. This can be a temporary impairment or a permanent one. Depending on how long you are out of work, you could lose thousands of dollars.
If your impairment is permanent, you may have to find another way to make a living. This can cause you to suffer loss of earning potential, if your new job does not pay as well as your previous job. You might even need to retire.
If you sustained a traumatic carpal tunnel injury, your qualify of life may diminish. You might be unable to care for yourself or your family and you might be unable to do the things you once loved such as drawing, rock climbing, and playing sports.
In addition to affecting your daily life and your job, carpal tunnel can cost quite a lot. You might need one of more of the following to treat your carpal tunnel:
- Braces or splints
- Medications
- Steroid injections
- Surgery
- Physical therapy
The costs of any of these can add up quickly. If another driver was at-fault for your accident, you may be able to recover compensation for any injury-related expenses.
How can I prove I sustained carpal tunnel syndrome in my accident?
Because carpal tunnel syndrome is a repetitive stress injury, the other driver’s insurer might try to claim your carpal tunnel resulted from a repetitive motion such as typing, writing, or playing sports. This can be problematic if your job duties include one or more of these repetitive motions.
To prove your carpal tunnel resulted from your accident, you need to provide:
- A doctor’s report of your examination
- Results of an electrophysiological test
- Results of an ultrasound
- X-rays
- MRI scans
Our team will work with your doctors to get the medical records and results we need to prove your injury was a direct result of your accident and not a pre-existing condition.
Where can I get help?
Filing a carpal tunnel car accident claim is often difficult, especially when you are trying to recover from your injury and support your family. The car accident team at the Law Office of Jason R. Schultz, P.C. knows how difficult this can be and wants to help. We will handle your entire case with no upfront out-of-pocket costs so you can focus on recovering, not how you will pay us.
Call us today at 404-474-0804 today for your free, no-obligation consultation.