Questions about Carpel Tunnel and WC

[labgeek]

Last year I was worked up for possible CT through work comp. The Dr. said my EMG was neg and it was not CT, but my posture, due to a rounded shoulders, neck, and posture. So, at that point WC quit paying for anything.

Well, it seemed to get a bit better,before it got worse again. So I went a few weeks ago under my own insurance. My office manager knows that I was going and told me to go under my own insurance. This new Dr.says that she thinks it could be atypical CT. She gave me a cortisone shot. Since then I have had new pain and now it has progressed to the top of my wrist and arm and well as under my wrist. I am also now having this weird burning sensation on my arm that makes it sensitive to the touch. Feels like a sunburn, but there is no sunburn. Also, at my visit a few weeks ago they did a strength test and I am right handed and my strength in my right hand was 15lbs less than my left hand. The doctor last year for WC did not do a strength test or try cortisone. I am going back to the doctor today because the pain is so much worse than it has ever been and new different pain which is freaking me out. I am still going to submit it under my insurance.

My question is though, if the doctor determines it was work related and my insurance denies it, does WC then pick it up? My employers knows I am going to the doctor. I was told by the WC adjuster last year that the case remains open and can be revisited. If my insurance does not reject it can I just run it through my insurance? Honestly, I cannot afford to take the 68% pay the WC offers. I have 4 weeks vacation coming to me and wonder if it is just easier to do insurance?

Thanks for any advice. Kat

[hurt at work]

welcome kat and someone will be along soon that can give you some help.also they will want some info like ur state as wc laws very from state to state.sparkey will be along soon to help you as well as others.sorry ur here and wish you well. (:

[labgeek]

I am from Ky! Thanks!

[sparkey]

Unfortunatly you know how wc works. If you do not have the proof that it happened at work and you do not have test results that show you have carpal tunnel , you will be fighting the ic all the way. I would go with my own insurance co. and have the surgery done. If you go through wc you know they will fight you tooth and nail.

My first carpal surgery in 98 I did not claim it as a work injury. It went so smoothly and no trouble. Unfortunatly this injury to the same hand happened while i was at work ,and if i could do things all over again i would. I was forced to fill out papers that day when I dropped a needle , and immediatly sent to their doctor. Then I was in the nightmare called " workers comp".

Others may think differently than what i am suggesting, but I say get the surgery done with your insurance. If not you will be suffering longer due to them fighting you and could make your condition much worse. I never did get a doctor to repeat my surgery ,and now I have nerve damage to live with. If i just went to a surgeon with my emg results , things may have been different. Unless you want to get a lawyer, fight the ic, and get depressed, injury progressing etc, then I say try to get it done and take vacation time. My own personal opinion.

I have never been so medicated, depressed, in pain, in all my life, and I am only getting worse. Today I had to take another day out of work due to depression /pain. I am afraid I will never leave this house. I can also tell my husband has had enough of watching me lay around and whine of pain. Hopefully he still loves me I am not the same person he met 30 yrs. ago and only getting worse.

[labgeek]

Luckly, mine is actually pretty easy to prove it was done at work since I work in a lab doing very intrinsic work with cells, and have been doing it full time for 4 1/2 years now.

My worry also is, that after I get it fixed, if I continue to do the same work, will it come right back? I am anxious to see the doctor today and see what she says.

[jayne]

never never never lie about a WC injury it will bite you in the butt if you do....yes you run a very real risk of no medical help,delayed med help or just to darn late medical help......But we here are the few that the system didnt work for it does for 99% of the people....file your WC if they dont pick it up go thru your private doc......believe it or not your employer is one of the most important pieces of this puzzle if they work with you it will go smooth if they dont it will be hell on earth.....Good luck and come back often.....

[labgeek]

Thanks for the welcome. I work in small doctors office, so it's a whole lot easier than with a bigger workplace. My office manager and physician (boss) both know and are really supportive. My office manager follows rules really strictly. Both have told me to call them as soon as I get out of the doctors today and if need be they will start the proceedings to convert it to WC. I just need to know if it is actually carpal tunnel or if it is my neck and posture and my rounded shoulders.

[jayne]

could be a mixture of both

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Labgeek, I am or was a worker of Repetitive hard work. I had Carpal Tunnel in my right hand. I had the release performed from a highly known specialist. Bilos I think was his name. After the surgery and all, I still had pain and thumb problems. The surgeon simply told me, that I trusted him enough to perform the surgery, so trust his advice now. He said, the surgery went well, and he opened the area up and gave it more space for the future. He added, give yourself atleast one full year to fully heal, and one day you will wake up, and not even remember it ever hurt. You know what, he was so right on the money, and it did happen just like that too.
Get your EMG and NVS test done from the Cervical Neck down all the way to your fingers on both sides to rule anything else out. If found to have CTS, get it done while in the early stages. The results are so much better then. Once done, learn and always continue your proper PT. Get them to make you out a list of all the Exercisers for PT and home PT. Always keep that hand working. Then have PT make you a molded hand Brace, wear it a night, and when you become sore. This will give you the added bracing when working also, till the hand simply just feels great again.

[katicabogar]

Hello, Labgeek,

I had several surgeries for tendonytis/carpal tunnel and thumb triggering on both hands between 2005 and 2006 and I am still having lots of problems and I don't even work anymore. Before the surgeries, I received cortisone shots which were no help. My surgeries were done by a very reputable and well respected hand surgeon, who told me from day one to find a different type of work(I did lots of data entry). Before the surgeries, most of the pain was in the wrists and arms and both thumbs triggered, but after the surgeries, all my fingers became stiff, cramped and also have this awful burning in both of the shoulders. Recent Emg and nerve conducting test showed no nerve damage in the neck or arms, only "very mild carpal tunnel". My current doctor thinks I was misdiagnosed and had the neck trouble from day one which was never addressed.
I believe you should file a w/c claim, but let your private insurance pay for all tests to rule out anything else besides carpal tunnel and don't rely on EMG test alone. Get your neck tested also. I wish I did while I still had my insurance because w/c will not pay for MRI and now claiming all my shoulder problems and finger problems are "age" related.

Good luck to you and while you get treated, think about some other type of carrier where you don't have to use your hands so much.

Kat