Chief Felix Saucedo Jr. of the Brownsville Police Department in Brownsville, Texas, filed a custodial death report about  Edgar Alejandro Hernandez on December 29, 2022. Mr. Hernandez was 28 years old when he was booked into the city jail. Tragically, he died of unknown causes on November 29, 2022, less than 17 hours after his arrival. The cause of death is pending autopsy results.

Causes and Symptoms of Handcuff Syndrome

External pressure onto the dorsal aka sensory branch of the radial nerve as it enters the wrist is the cause of Wartenberg’s Syndrome aka Hand Cuff Syndrome. This pressure could be caused by handcuffs but also by the following circumstances:

• Wearing tight wrist jewelry such as bracelets, watches, or bands.
• Prior injuries, fractures, or scarring at the wrist.
• Performing tasks that require tight grips and repetitive wrist motions.
• Ganglion pressing on the nerve.

Symptoms of Hand Cuff Syndrome

A person who suffers from handcuff syndrome might feel one or more of the following symptoms:

• Pain may be aching, radiating, and burning into the first web space of the thumb.
• Numbness on the radial side of the forearm along the nerve distribution.
• Pain following the radial nerve distribution down the forearm and into the 1^st web space of the thumb.
• No motor symptoms, though, secondary to pain, grip may feel weak.

Learn more in Part 1 of this continuing series.

Helping Texas prisoners housed in county and municipal jails is the purpose of this website. Making accusations that people or entities have engaged in wrongdoing is never intended.

–Guest Contributor