A reader asks:
I suffered a torn rotator cuff injury which I had surgery. Since then have had numbness to my hand. The numbness comes during periods of time standing or walking. My doctor who is well qualified thinks it might be carpal tunnel but waiting to see if the swelling in the shoulder is possibly causing it. My question is that if it turns out to be carpal tunnel is this a new case or is this a injury that came from the rotator cuff injury?
We see this a lot where one injury caused another. We’ve had clients with leg injuries who have fallen down the stairs and broke their arm. We’ve had others that used crutches and ended up with an elbow injury. And we’ve seen some clients start with rotator cuff surgery that end up with carpal tunnel.
As for whether it’s one case or a bunch of separate cases, that answer depends on what your doctor thinks was the cause of your problem and whether or not there was a new accident. It’s often a big benefit for the client to have a 2nd case because the more recent an injury date, the higher the PPD or TTD rates can be.
In general though, we don’t think you should worry about whether you have one cases or two cases. The most important thing is to get the proper medical treatment so you have your health.
We are workers’ compensation attorneys that help people with Illinois work injuries anywhere in IL via our statewide network of attorneys. Contact us and we will answer your questions or find the right lawyer for your situation.
