Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome causes tingling and numbness in your hand

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common condition that occurs when your median nerve becomes compressed, causing pain, numbness, and weakness in your hand. Your median nerve starts at your arm and goes down to your hand via your carpal tunnel (a narrow passageway surrounded by bones and ligaments on the lower palm side of your hand), controlling movement and feeling in your thumb and three middle fingers.


If your carpal tunnel becomes narrowed due to swelling, it can squeeze your median nerve, leading to discomfort and reduced function in the hand. There are a number of reasons why your carpal tunnel may swell, such as wrist injuries, joint or bone disease (rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, etc), or frequent repetitive small hand movements. If left untreated, your carpal tunnel syndrome can get worse over time.


In your carpal tunnel syndrome is diagnosed early, it can usually be resolved with non-surgical treatments. This may include wrist splints, anti-inflammatory medications, or avoiding certain activities that make the condition worse. If your symptoms don't improve despite these treatments, you may need private carpal tunnel syndrome surgery.


The main symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include:


In most cases, your symptoms for carpal tunnel syndrome will begin gradually and without any specific cause. Symptoms may come and go at first, but as the condition worsens, it is possible that your discomfort occurs more frequently and/or lasts for a longer period of time. Your carpal tunnel syndrome may flare up at night if you sleep with your wrists bent, or show up in the daytime when holding something for a prolonged period of time (using a phone, driving, etc.)


Tingling and numbness


The most common symptom of carpal tunnel syndrome is tingling and numbness in your fingers and/or hand, often felt when you wake up in the morning. Usually, all fingers apart from your little finger are affected, and it can feel almost like an electric shock. If you leave your carpal tunnel syndrome untreated for an extended period of time, this feeling of numbness can become constant.


Weakness and pain


Due to the numbness in your hand and your thumb's pinching muscles, you may feel less strength and control in your hand. As a result, you might drop objects, find it harder to maintain a tight grip on objects, or struggle with fine movements like buttoning your shirt. This weakness can be accompanied by an aching pain in your hand that travels up your arm.


What Causes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?


Generally, carpal tunnel syndrome is not caused by one single factor. It is likely that a number of risk factors have contributed to your condition developing. Some of these include:


Repetitive hand use


If you repeat the same hand or wrist motions or activities over a prolonged period of time, such as holding a computer mouse or working with vibrating tools, the tendons in your wrist become aggravated, causing your carpal tunnel to swell up and compress against your median nerve.

This happens especially when these activities involve your hands being lower than your wrists. Doing these movements in cold conditions can also increase the chances of them leading to carpal tunnel syndrome.


Underlying health conditions


Carpal tunnel syndrome is most typically caused by an underlying condition, especially conditions that affect your joints and bones. Rheumatoid arthritis, for example, causes inflammation in the joints and can affect the lining around the tendons in your wrist, leading to the carpal tunnel becoming narrower than usual and compressing against the median nerve. Some chronic illnesses, like diabetes, also increases the risk of nerve damage and you developing carpal tunnel syndrome as a result.


Other conditions that may lead to carpal tunnel syndrome include:

  • Thyroid dysfunction (when your thyroid gland either produces too many or not enough hormones in your body)
  • High blood pressure
  • Menopause
  • Kidney failure
  • Lymphedema (swelling in the body's tissues)


Heredity and gender


Your carpal tunnel may be naturally smaller than others, which increases the chances of it squeezing against your median nerve. These traits can be passed down by your parents. It has also been shown that carpal tunnel syndrome is generally seen more frequently in women, due to the fact that the carpal tunnel is relatively smaller in women compared with men.


Trauma to your wrist


If you experience a traumatic injury to your wrist that causes a sprain, dislocation, or break (such as falling badly on your hand while playing sport), the swelling that follows can reduce the space within your carpal tunnel and lead to pressure on your median nerve.


Pregnancy


It could be that hormonal changes during pregnancy can lead to swelling that creates pressure on your median nerve. This is because you retain fluid when you are pregnant, which may consequently increase pressure within the carpal tunnel and irritate the median nerve. If you develop carpal tunnel when you are pregnant, it usually gets better on its own after you give birth.


Other potential causes of carpal tunnel syndrome


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