Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Source American Academy of Family Physicians
March 02, 2005
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful disorder of the wrist
and hand. The carpal tunnel is a narrow tunnel formed by the bones
and other tissues of your wrist. This tunnel normally protects your
median nerve. The median nerve gives you feeling in your thumb, and
index, middle and ring fingers. But when other tissues in the
carpal tunnel, such as ligaments and tendons, get swollen or
inflamed, they press against the median nerve. That pressure can
make part of your hand hurt or feel numb.
You may have symptoms in one or both of
your hands, but the hand you use the most will usually show the
symptoms first.
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Symptoms of carpal tunnel
syndrome
- Numbness or tingling in your hand
and fingers. You may feel this the most in your thumb, and index
and middle fingers.
- Pain in your wrist, palm or
forearm.
- More numbness or pain at night
than during the day. The pain may be so bad it wakes you up. You
may shake or rub your hand to get relief.
- More pain as you use your hand or
wrist more.
- Trouble gripping
objects.
- Weakness in your
thumb.
- If you’re a woman, more
pain before your period, in the last few months of pregnancy or in
the first few months after delivery. This is because you may retain
fluids at these times.
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Making the same hand movements over and
over can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. It’s most common in
people whose jobs require pinching or gripping with the wrist held
bent. Carpal tunnel syndrome is linked to other things too. It may
be caused by an injury to the wrist, such as a fracture. Or it may
be caused by a disease such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or
thyroid disease.
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Things that may help prevent
carpal tunnel syndrome
- Lose weight if you are
overweight.
- Cut down on alcohol use and
smoking.
- Get treatment for any disease you
have that may cause carpal tunnel syndrome.
- If you do the same tasks with
your hands over and over, try not to bend, extend, or twist your
hands for long periods of time.
- Don’t work with your arms
too close or too far from your body.
- Don’t rest your wrists on
hard surfaces for long periods.
- Switch your hands during work
tasks.
- Hold objects instead of pinching
them.
- Make sure your tools aren’t
too big for your hands.
- Use tools that don’t
vibrate too much.
- Take regular breaks from repeated
hand movements to give your hands and wrists time to
rest.
- Don’t sit or stand in the
same position all day.
- If you use a computer or
typewriter a lot, adjust the height of your chair so that your
forearms are level with your keyboard and you don’t have to
flex your wrists to type.
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