You rely on the use of your hands for almost everything you do on a daily basis. But when you have constant pain and discomfort in your hands and wrists, these simple tasks become more difficult and uncomfortable. Are you feeling that increasingly familiar tingle around your wrist and fingers right about now? Well, you may be experiencing symptoms of a condition known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). Two big culprits of this type of pain are Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), conditions infamous for the pain and discomfort they cause in the hands and wrists.
What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
A common cause of wrist pain is carpal tunnel syndrome. You may feel aching, burning, numbness, or tingling in your palm, wrist, thumb, or fingers. The thumb muscle can become weak, making it difficult to grasp things. Pain may shoot up to your elbow. The carpal tunnel is on the palm side of your wrist, surrounded by bones and ligaments. It protects a main nerve to your hand, known as the median nerve, as well as the nine tendons that bend your fingers. The median nerve provides sensation to the palm side of your thumb and fingers, except your little finger. It also provides nerve signals to move the muscles around the base of your thumb.
Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve gets compressed at the wrist because of swelling. This is the nerve in the wrist that allows feeling and movement to parts of the hand. This condition causes a tingling and numbness in your fingers, hand, and wrist. This sensation can even wake you up from sleeping and may extend from your wrist up your arm. Carpal tunnel syndrome stems from anything that crowds, irritates or compresses the median nerve, such as a wrist fracture, swelling or inflammation. The most common causes for CTS tend to be from excessive stretching/bending of the wrists or vibration, usually related to keyboard/mouse usage, typing, and the use of power tools.
Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel:
- Persistent pain, numbness, or tingling in the hand
- Pain or numbness that runs from the hand up the arm
- Itching or numbness in the thumb, index, and middle fingers
- Fingers that “feel” swollen even though they aren’t
- Weakness in the hand and/or fingers
- Symptoms that show up at night, causing sufferers to want to “shake them out”
- Decreased grip strength
- Difficulty grasping small objects
CTS can cause numbness or tingling in the hand, or feelings similar to electrical shock in the thumb, index finger and middle finger. These symptoms often progress over time until they become constant. Muscle weakness and clumsiness may appear when the condition becomes more severe.
If you think you may be suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome call the Auto & Work Injury Clinic at 210-342-2777 or request an appointment online.
