After Carpal Tunnel Surgery

[Retired77]

I just finished one of my appointments and was scheduled to have surgery to alleviate the carpal tunnel problems that I am experiencing. While I hope this fixes my issue, I was curious to know what if any would be a disability rating for it.

Thank you

[RUREADY]

I get 20% but its base on the nerve damage whether it mild, moderate, or severe, you

having surgery to fix it maybe 0% not sure

[Vync]

Yes, it is possible to be rated for carpal tunnel issues, but it depends on the severity of your condition. If surgery corrects the problem, then a low or zero rating may be in order, if you can get SC for it. I had surgery and it helped, but did not completely get rid of it.

Here's the rating criteria. The two numbers listed to the right represent the percentages as major vs. minor.

§ 4.124a - Schedule of Ratings - Neurological Conditions and Convulsive Disorders

Diagnostic Code 8515

8515 Paralysis of median nerve
Complete; the hand inclined to the ulnar side, the index and middle fingers more extended than normally, considerable atrophy of the muscles of the thenar eminence, the thumb in the plane of the hand (ape hand); pronation incomplete and defective, absence of flexion of index finger and feeble flexion of middle finger, cannot make a fist, index and middle fingers remain extended; cannot flex distal phalanx of thumb, defective opposition and abduction of the thumb, at right angles to palm; flexion of wrist weakened; pain with trophic disturbances 70 60
Incomplete:
Severe 50 40
Moderate 30 20
Mild 10 10

[TALON II FE]

I had carpal tunnel release on active duty, but also other wrist damage and surgery and nerve damage. Not sure how they are going to untangle it all, but I did have an AVM or Vascular Fistula in my wrist and they had to take some extra muscle tissue where it was attached. The AVM is classified as CNS, probably because almost all of them occur in the brain. I am very curious to see if they combine it all under loss of use of a limb, or separate them out into individual ratings. I have a referral in now back to Ortho (my wrist is acting up more and more and I wear a soft cast / splint most of the time now) and a brain CT scan referral due to balance issues, dizziness, massive headaches separate from my migraines, etc. Hopefully, the CT scan comes back clean, any problems in my head past my sinuses and my PTSD are not welcome, regardless of compensation!

[Buck52]

I might add too,

when they do the surgery if they hit a nerve in your hand giving antistatic injections (they can't fix that) and what that does is cause pain in certain parts of your hand, weakens your grip ect,, ect,, if they fix the carpal but damage a nerve in your hand doing the surgery you defiantly should file on that.

I believe that's what happen to me in Feb when I had the hand surgery...I go see the hand therapist in Aug..but my hand is sore and I don't have the grip I once had and when I stretch my hand like lay my hand down on a flat surface it hurts and feels like something is burning inside my hand.

JMO

...............Buck

[TALON II FE]

Buck,

Are you going to physical therapy? I went for a year, twice a week, after my surgery bc I 'needed' to get back in the plane. That didn't work out for me, and physical therapy was a beast, but I think it was worth it in the long run. I think physical therapy is a joke for some injuries (c-spine fusion, for example) but it was very beneficial for my wrist and hand. I can't bend my wrist back or move it 'outward' on a flat plane (extremely painful even with a brace) but it is still much improved from where I started post op in 2011. I still don't have grip strength in my dominant right hand anywhere near the level of my uninjured left hand (though it was diagnosed with carpel tunnel as well., my wife has to open jars for me, but I believe it would have been much worse without the pain of really, really committing to the physical therapy early after the surgeries. I also spent a lot of time in tears working out the scar tissue on my hand. I used a funky, rounded glass bottle stopper I found at a glass shop in Okinawa, but you can use something else that is hard, smooth and can fit well into the pocket of your hand. I actually still do this about once a week, not painful enough to water my eyes anymore. You can even massage it out with your other hand if nothing else. This will pay dividends in functionality down the road, at least that is what I was told. Just my experience, I hope it gets better for you, mine was slow to heal compared to other injuries but I think it would have been completely useless without all that work.

Also, if you are getting those random nerve pains in your forearm, like I still was after surgery, that may be cubic tunnel syndrome like I have as well. It is a very similar issue, but in the elbow. They do surgery for that as well, but it is more involved, according to my Navy Hand Doc (at the time) and I respected his opinion, he was very good, Fellowship trained hand surgeon. I decided against it after we talked, but that is claimable as well. Many times, cubic tunnel syndrome is misdiagnosed as a c-spine issue, may be something to ask about if anyone is having these issues. Hope this helps.

Edited July 15, 2015 by TALON II FE

[Buck52]

yes I still see a therapist but he don't really do anything just tells me massage it and do hand exercise which I do everyday but its not doing any good as for as I can til and I do have pain in my hand and back forearm!

I still have to wear the brace/splint until Aug...then I go see the therapist.

.................Buck