Workers’ compensation laws in the state of Mississippi cover a wide range of job-related injuries. However, they are not all injuries that can be identified with the naked eye. Workers with injuries a lot less discernible can still warrant their share of compensation benefits.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is an injury that afflicts high number of workers, particularly those who are relegated to a desk job. All-day typing may not seem like a dangerous job, but it could bring about a painful and long-term injury.
Mississippi state laws require an employee to file for workers’ compensation within a specific period of time after suffering the injury. Nevertheless, identifying the point in time when a carpal tunnel injury was suffered remains rather difficult. That does not mean a claim cannot be field.
There is a lengthy period of time in which employees can file a workers’ compensation claim in Mississippi. Employees have two years from the time the injury was sustained. After that, the claim would be considered null and void.
Since the initiation of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is so difficult to identify, workers can file a claim with an even longer statute of limitations. A claim should be filed during a time when the injury became ‘reasonably apparent.’ That term enables workers to have a lot of leeway as the system seems to favor employees in this instance.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is considered to be a cumulative trauma injury, which is defined as a work-related injury generally limited to the upper extremities and head. Cumulative trauma injuries affect tendons, ligaments and muscles. Some examples are neck strains, back strains and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be rather painful and its symptoms include the following:
- Tingling of hands
- Numbness in forearm, hands or wrists
- Ache in forearm between wrist and elbow
- Stiffness in fingers
- Pins and needles sensation in hands
Surgery may be required to permanently correct Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Severe symptoms can also prohibit normal everyday activities. Surgery is an intricate process in which doctors go in and reduce pressure on the median nerve in the wrist. This is done by actually cutting the transverse carpal ligament. Recovery time can take up to as much as three months.
To test for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, doctors examine fingers, wrists and forearms in addition to testing the median nerve. Doing the same repetitive action with one’s hands is considered to be the main contributor to the onset of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The evolution of the computer age saw a dramatic increase in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome with so many computer programmers and operators becoming a steady part of the American workforce.
Diagnosing the beginning of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is key to any workers’ compensation case in the state of Mississippi. It is also considered to be an occupational illness. In the state of Mississippi, there are for four kinds of workers’ compensation, of which a person with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be eligible to receive:
- Temporary Total Disability Benefits: This covers an employee who is unable to work and provides 2/3 of the average weekly wage.
- Temporary Partial Disability Benefits: This covers employees who are capable of doing some work at a reduced wage. They are paid the difference between their present wage and 2/3 of their average weekly wage prior to the injury.
- Permanent Partial Disability Benefits: This covers employees who have been injured but their condition has improved while still being impaired. If the employee is still injured after 450 weeks, he/she will received 2/3 of the average weekly salary that was being paid prior to the injury.
- Permanent Total Disability Benefits: This covers an employee who is unable to recover from the injury. payment of their full weekly salary will last up to 450 weeks.
If you have been injured on the job, the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC can come to your aid. You do not have to suffer needlessly as there are laws that protect the rights of employees in every field. Our attorneys can help build your workers’ compensation case and ease your suffering. Call us today for a free confidential consultation at (800) 707-9577.