Carpal Tunnel Disease

Carpal Tunnel Symptoms, Treatments

What is carpal tunnel disease? Carpal tunnel syndrome, which is often called carpal tunnel disease is a condition that causes nerve pain, numbing or tingling in the hands, wrists or arms. Sometimes there is paiin in all these areas.

The carpal tunnel is the passage between bones found at the wrist and bottom of the hands. Carpal tunnel disease occurs when there is damage to the median nerve, which is a major nerve in the area. The median nerve runs from the forearm and into the hands and sends signals from the brain to the thumb and all fingers with the exception of the pinky. The median nerve also controls all the muscles associated with this area. When under pressure, the median nerve gets swollen, which leaves less room for it to send the signals through  the carpal tunnel and to the brain.

Carpal tunnel symptoms 

Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include weakness in the gands, wrists and arms. The main fingers affected are the thumb and first finger. If the pinky finger is also affected, then carpal tunnel may not be the issue.

Symptoms may present themselves either continuously or intermittantly over a long period of time. When carpal tunnel symptoms include pain that runs from the hands up to the arms, then the problem could be serious. You may have carpal tunnel syndrome and a visit to the doctor is in order.

There are going to be those people who are going to discount their carpal tunnel symptoms, believing their discomfort is due to stress or overwork. This is possible, of course. But when the pain and numbness happen more than once a week, then there is the probability of carpal tunnel syndrome. A physician should be consulted in order to get the proper diagnosis and treatment can begin.

Below are the most common carpal tunnel symptoms:

• A numbing of the fingers, excluding the pinky
• Tingles or sharp pains in the wrists, forearms or the thumbs and middle fingers
• Shooting pains that starts in the wrists and moves up to the elbow or lower arm
• Swelling in the hands or fingers
• The lack of cold and hot feeling in the hands
• Inability to hang on to smaller items because the hands are numb

Anyone who has the above symptoms, even if it is only one, should go to the doctor and get a checkup to make sure that there is not an issue with the carpal tunnel. If left untreated, carpal tunnel syndrome can lead to more disastrous issues which can mean surgery to open up the pressure on the median nerve.

Also see carpal tunnel symptoms, carpal tunnel surgery and nerve pain.