Electric Shock and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Q:
In the earlier part of this year I received an electrical shock to my hand, which resulted in a first degree burn. Immediately following the shock my fingers to my shoulder became num. By the next day only my fingers to my elbow were num. After several days the numness left however I began waking in the night with numbness and pain in my fingers. I have now progressed to losing sensation in the tips of my fingers. Today I was diognosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. The doctors beleive it is a result of the electrocution. Is there any articles or studies on this. Thank you.
A:
We have not come across any studies that give reference to carpal tunnel syndrome ever being caused by electrical shock.
You may have already had a muscle imbalance in your hand and forearm before you were ever shocked. Once you were shocked, and you were unable to use that hand to perform any type of activities with it, the muscles probably atrophied. (Meaning, that due to a lack of use of those muscles, they became weak and small compared to the muscles of your other hand and arm.)
If the muscles in your hand and forearm atrophied due to the damage from trauma, or lack of use, the extensor muscles that open your hand probably got just weak enough to where the symptoms could show themselves.
Many times the position of the hand during recuperation can make a difference. If your hand and/or wrist was always in a flexed forward or closed position while resting, the flexor muscles on the front of the hand and forearm would become very tight and short, which in turn, would put additional pressure over the carpal tunnel area.
Thank you for your question.