Live Life Team
It is a condition which causes numbness, burning or tingling sensation, and pain in the fingers and hands. Symptoms could range from a mild symptom to severe symptoms. Carpal tunnel syndrome affects the nerves in the hand.
Common symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome appear in the:
Thumb.
Index finger.
Half the ring finger.
Middle finger.
Symptoms arte usually worse at night and may cause one to awaken from sleep.
Dexterity Problems.
The hand may become clumsy and weak and one may have difficulty gripping objects with the hand, especially the thumb. A person may also not be able to use the affected fingers to perform tasks like typing. Maintaining one position of the hand or the wrist too long or doing repetitive tasks makes the symptoms worse. Nevertheless, moving or shaking the wrist can help relieve symptoms. In some cases, one may experience swelling, dry skin, or colour changes in the affected hands.
Causes
Carpal tunnel syndrome is the result of compression of a nerve also known as the median nerve. The two main functions of the median nerve are:
It relays information from the hand to the brain as in sense of touch.
It relays information from the brain back to the hand and fingers, allowing the hand and the fingers to move.
Thus, compression of median nerve may cause a malfunction in either of the above functions. Compression is caused by the inflammation or the swelling of the tendons which go through the carpal tunnel.
Some of the reasons for carpal tunnel syndrome are
Family history.
Health conditions, some of which are listed below.
Diabetes.
Obesity, especially young people.
Rheumatoid arthritis.
Gout.
Heart failure.
Oedema.
The lesser common occurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome is, if a person suffers from abnormal wrist structure like a narrow carpal tunnel, any extra growth, tendon swelling or blood vessel swelling, or cysts.
Diagnosis
A common test to detect carpal tunnel syndrome is to tap the wrist and check if a numbness or tingling feeling is produced in the hand.
Flex the wrist for about a minute and check for any tingling, numbness, or pain that might occur.
Further tests to check for carpal tunnel syndrome include:
Electromyography. This technique checks the electrical activity of the muscles using electrodes.
Nerve conduction study. This is a similar study with the difference being that this study shows how electric activity is transmitted through the nerves.
Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome includes
Wrist splints. They help in reducing the compression on the nerve thereby reducing the symptoms.
Corticosteroids. If the symptoms lasts more than three months and it gets worse, additional treatment in the form of corticosteroids may be helpful.
Surgery.
Open surgery. The nerve is released by cutting through the wrist.
Endoscopic surgery. A small incision is made in the palm and a machine called the endoscope is used to release the nerve through the small incision.
