Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Overview
What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
If you’re feeling numbness, tingling, or weakness in your hand, consider asking your doctor to check you for carpal tunnel syndrome.
It’s caused by pressure on your median nerve, which runs the length of the arm, goes through a passage in the wrist called the carpal tunnel, and ends in the hand. The median controls the movement and feeling of your thumb, and also the movement of all your fingers except your pinky.
The carpal tunnel is narrowed as a result, usually from swelling.
Often, people don’t know what brought on their carpal tunnel syndrome. But it can happen due to:
- Repetitive motions, like typing or any motions of the wrist that you do over and over. This is especially true of actions when your hands are lower than your wrist.
- Conditions like hypothyroidism, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, and diabetes
- Pregnancy
If you have carpal tunnel syndrome and don’t get it treated, its symptoms can last a long time, get worse, and can even go away and return. When your doctor diagnoses it early, it’s easier to treat.
What Are the Symptoms?
You may feel a burning, tingling, or itching numbness in the palm of your hand and thumb, or index and middle fingers.
You might first notice that your fingers “fall asleep” and become numb at night. That usually happens in the evening because of the relaxed position of your hand and while sleeping.
In the morning, you may wake up with numbness and tingling in your hands that may run all the way to your shoulder.
What Happens in Severe Cases?
As carpal tunnel syndrome becomes more severe, you may have less grip strength because the muscles in your hand shrink. Pain and muscle cramping will also become worse.
The median nerve begins to lose function because of the irritation or pressure around it. This leads to:
- Slower nerve impulses
- Loss of feeling in the fingers
- A loss of strength and coordination, especially the ability to use your thumb to pinch
You could end up with permanent muscle damage and lose function in your hand. So, don’t put off seeing a doctor.
Are Some People More Likely to Get It?
Medical conditions sometimes linked to carpal tunnel syndrome include:
- Obesity
- Hypothyroidism
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Diabetes
- Pregnancy
- Trauma
Women are three times more likely than men to get the condition. That may be because in general they have a smaller carpal tunnel than men. When the condition is brought on by pregnancy, the symptoms usually clear up within a few months after delivery.
Certain jobs that involve repeating the same motion with your arm over a long time may raise your chances of getting the condition.
Those jobs include:
- Assembly line worker
- Sewer or knitter
- Baker
- Cashier
- Hair stylist
- Musician
Which Tests Help Diagnose Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Your doctor may ask you to tap the palm side of your wrist or fully flex your wrist with your arms completely extended.
Another test called EMG-NCV measures the function of the nerve across the carpal tunnel.
How’s It Treated?
Lifestyle changes. If your symptoms are due to repetitive motion, you can take more frequent breaks or do a bit less of the activity that’s causing you pain. Certain stretching and strengthening exercises could help, too. Speak with your doctor.
Immobilization. The doctor may have you use a splint to keep your wrist from moving and to lessen pressure on the nerves. You may wear one at night to help get rid of that numbness or tingling feeling. This can help you sleep better and give your median nerve a rest.
Medication . Your doctor may give you anti-inflammatory drugs or steroid shots to reduce swelling.
Surgery. If none of the above treatments work, an operation may be an option. Talk with your doctor about it.
What Can I Do to Help Myself?
- Keep your wrists straight.
- Use a splint or brace that helps keep your wrist in a neutral position.
- Avoid flexing and extending your wrists repeatedly.
- Talk to your doctor about exercises that may help.
- Correctly position your hands and wrists while working.
- Arrange your activity and workspace in a way that minimizes any discomfort.
For many people with tingling, pain, or numbness in their fingers, carpal tunnel syndrome is the first thing to come to mind. It’s a common condition, but it’s not the only one that causes problems in your hands and wrists. It helps to know what to look for so you can get the right care. Early treatment can make a make a big difference in how long it takes to get better.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by pressure on your median nerve. This nerve gives you feeling in your thumb and all your fingers except your pinky. When it goes through your wrist, it passes through the carpal tunnel — a narrow path that’s made of bone and ligament. If you get any swelling in your wrist, this tunnel gets squeezed and pinches your median nerve, which causes your symptoms.
What Are the Early Signs?
Typically, the symptoms start out slowly, with burning, numbness, tingling, or pain. You might feel it in your thumb and any of your fingers, but not your pinkie. The strange feeling may also travel up your forearm.
Often, symptoms start at night. That’s because most people sleep with their wrists bent, which causes pressure on the median nerve. You might wake up feeling like you need to shake your hands out.
As your condition gets worse, you may notice symptoms during the day, as well. This often happens when you’re doing something where your wrist is bent up or down for a long time, like driving a car, reading a newspaper, or holding your phone.
At first, symptoms tend to come and go. But over time, they occur more often and become worse.
You might also notice other symptoms:
- Your fingers feel swollen, even though they don’t look like it.
- Pain and tingling travel up your forearm to your shoulder.
- “Shocks” come and go in your thumb and fingers.Over time, carpal tunnel can also affect your grip and ability to pinch. Here are some things that could be happening:
- You drop things more often (due to numbness or weakened muscles).
- You’re having a hard time working with small objects, like the buttons on your shirt.
- It’s harder to make a fist than it used to be.
- In more severe cases, you can lose muscle at the base of your thumb. Or you may no longer be able to tell hot from cold just by touch.
When Should I Call a Doctor?
Anytime you have any of the common symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome on a regular basis. When you get care early on, you may find that basic options, such as rest or wearing a wrist brace, work well. That’ll allow you to avoid more serious treatment like surgery. Without any treatment, your symptoms could become permanent.
What Other Conditions Can Cause Similar Symptoms?
Several of them. One, which doctors call de Quervain tenosynovitis, causes problems with the tendons that control your thumb. It hurts to turn your wrist, make a fist, or try to grasp an object. Your doctor can do some simple tests to tell whether you have this condition or carpal tunnel.
Other health problems that may seem like carpal tunnel syndrome include:
- Arthritis
- Ligament damage
- Neuropathy, a nerve problem
- Wrist injury, such as a fracture
- Cervical (C6-7) root compression in the neck
It’s not as common, but for some people, carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by other health issues, like:
- Amyloidosis, a disease where proteins collect in your organs
- Birth control pills
- Diabetes
- Pregnancy
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Thyroid problems
Check with your doctor to see if you have another condition that might cause carpal tunnel syndrome. If he finds you don’t have one, ask him to send you for a nerve-conduction study –what doctors call an electromyography, or EMG.
For more information, please visit our LEARN section.