Citation Nr: 21031295 Decision Date: 05/21/21 Archive Date: 05/21/21 DOCKET NO. 17-52 123 DATE: May 21, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome, left hand, is granted. FINDING OF FACT After resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, left hand carpal tunnel syndrome is reasonably shown to have been manifest in service and to be related to service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for left hand carpal tunnel syndrome have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from August 1970 to December 1974, and from May 2009 to November 2013, with additional service in the National Guard. This matter is on appeal before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) from a January 2017 decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In August 2020 the Veteran appeared before the undersigned for a virtual hearing. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the Veteran's file. Entitlement to service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome, left hand. The Veteran states that his left hand carpal tunnel syndrome is related to service. Specifically, during his August 2020 hearing the Veteran testified that he developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists during his service as an Information Systems Technician. While he sought treatment for his right wrist, which had worse symptoms, he treated his left wrist's symptoms with over-the-counter medication until 2016, at which point the symptoms in his left wrist had progressed beyond over-the-counter treatment. When asked during the hearing why he did not seek treatment for his left wrist during service, he testified that he felt that he had to "suck it up." See August 2020 Hearing Transcript, pages 2-12. As an initial matter, the Board notes that from May 2009 through November 2013 the Veteran's military occupation specialty (MOS) was that of an Information Systems Technician. See December 2013 DD 214 Certified Original Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty. Turning to the Veteran's service treatment records (STRs), the Board observes that these records are silent as to conditions of the left hand, with the exception of a scar on the left thumb pad first noted in January 1981. Throughout service, the Veteran identified himself as right hand dominant. See August 2010 STR - Medical - Photocopy (4), pages 45, 69. February 2012 private records show the Veteran reported symptoms of numbness and tingling in his left hand. He described these symptoms as similar to those he felt from his right carpel tunnel syndrome, but to a lesser degree of intensity. See March 2012 Medical Treatment Record (MTR) Non-Government Facility (NGF), page 7. Turning to the Veteran's post-service medical history, VA records show that an August 2016 electrodiagnostic study revealed moderate left carpal tunnel syndrome. See November 2016 MTR NGF. Private records show that in August 2016 the Veteran reported numbness and pain in his left hand, with a gradual onset of symptoms beginning nine months prior. The Veteran's left carpal tunnel condition was described in the record as a personal injury. The Veteran was recommended for surgery, and in September 2016 he underwent left carpal tunnel release. See November 2016 MTR - NGF, pages 2, 3, 8. Finally, during his August 2020 hearing before the undersigned, the Veteran addressed the description of his left carpal tunnel syndrome as a "personal injury" in his private medical records. He testified that he did not recall incurring an injury in his left wrist other than carpal tunnel syndrome. The Veteran further testified that he checked his personal daily journal and found no mention of an injury. See August 2020 Hearing Transcript, page 7. Given that the Veteran's private records reflect an onset of carpal tunnel symptoms in the left hand in March 2012, during the Veteran's service, and the Veteran's MOS was that of an Information Systems Technician, the Board finds the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's left carpal tunnel syndrome was incurred in or related to service. Accordingly, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, entitlement to service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome, left hand, is warranted. S. HENEKS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Slomka, Associate Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.