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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is injury to the soft tissues and tendons near the wrist due to repetitive motions and stress in the workplace. This injury causes swelling, which pinches the nerves in the carpal tunnel passage of the wrist. Over time, an individual who has CTS may experience bouts of significant discomfort, numbness, tingling and loss of grip in the hand, wrist, and arm. Women suffer from CTS three times as much as men, due to the more delicate form of the female wrist.

While CTS is thought of to occur only in workers who work with hands, it can also occur with those who must carry out the same tasks daily. These tasks can be assembly, material handling, telephone use, typing at a computer, or even routine cleaning. Anyone can get CTS and it can cause a lot of pain and disfigurement if left untreated.

The issue with filing workers’ compensation claims for CTS is that employers will often try to shift responsibility for this progressive syndrome onto employees, rather than making ergonomic changes to the work environment to prevent it. However, if you have developed CTS as a result of the work you do, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits to get treatment and paid time off from work to recover.