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.
