After a car crash, you may feel displaced and out of it for a day or two. Things may come back in flashes, or not at all. The severity of the crash will play a part in how you feel in the days, maybe weeks, following the incident.
After some time passes, you may start feeling pain in your wrists that was not there before. You type on a keyboard a lot, so the natural thought process may fall on carpal tunnel syndrome, a common repetitive motion injury. However, did you know it is possible to develop carpal tunnel as a result of a car accident? Look out for these signs that your pain relates back to your crash.
The basics of carpal tunnel syndrome
When the median nerve or the tendons surrounding it gets inflamed, it can cause great pain in your wrist and hands. The carpal tunnel is a small area at the base of your wrist that is susceptible to inflammation, usually as a direct result of repetitive use of the hands. Some common symptoms include:
- Pain and numbness in the hands and fingers
- Pain in the wrist and forearm
- Tingling in the fingertips
- Grip loss and general weakness
Traumatic carpal tunnel problems
When repetitive motion causes carpal tunnel syndrome to develop, the symptoms typically grow in intensity over a long period of time. When the condition develops as a result of a car crash, the pain is intense and comes on shortly after the incident. This is known as traumatic or acute carpal tunnel. Treatment plans for the traumatic variety mirror those for the slow-developing condition. However, who pays for the treatment varies based on how it occurred.
If a doctor diagnoses you with carpal tunnel after a car crash, you may want to report the information to your auto insurance company. Getting treatment for the condition may end in surgery. If you can recoup that money from the at-fault driver or her or his insurance company, do it.
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