5 Ways to Alleviate Pain from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the compression of the median nerve (located on the palm side of the hand) as it passes into the hand. The median nerve provides the thumb, index finger, long finger, and part of the ring finger the ability to feel (sensation). This condition can cause numbness, tingling, or weakness in one or both hands.

 

Causes

Carpal tunnel pain is a result of excess pressure in your wrist and the median nerve. Inflammation is what causes compression of the median nerve. There are several underlying conditions that may cause the inflammation such as:

 

 

Who is most at risk?

Women are three times at higher risk of having carpal tunnel syndrome than men. Age is also a factor given that it is most frequently diagnosed between the ages 30 to 60. Here are some more risk factors:

 

 

Symptoms

We know that most symptoms occur in the wrist but here are the more detailed symptoms:

 

 

Diagnosis

Carpal tunnel syndrome can be diagnosed by administering the following tests:

 

 

Apart from these tests, your doctor will also need a physical examination and your history. During the examination, the doctor will do a detailed evaluation of your wrist, hand, neck, and shoulder to check for other potential causes of nerve pressure. Furthermore, your wrists will be checked for swelling, tenderness, or deformity. Lastly, the sensation to the fingers and strength of the muscles in your hand will also be checked.

 

Treatments

Treatments vary from person to person. What may work for you, might not work for the next person. Treatments range from nonsurgical options to surgery. Treating carpal tunnel syndrome early on can slow it down or even stop it. By getting an early treatment, the recovery time will become shorter.

 

Nonsurgical treatments:

 

 

Surgery may become necessary if there is severe damage to the median nerve. This surgery involves cutting the band of tissue in the wrist that crosses the median nerve to lessen the pressure on your nerve.

 

Self-Care

Self-care is one of the most important things to treat carpal tunnel syndrome. These are things you should do before and along with other forms of treatment. They will not cure it but may certainly be helpful.

 

 

Lifestyle

It is highly possible that you will need to make some adjustments to your lifestyle. The changes depend on a condition you may have. This includes changes due to diabetes, thyroid problems, and high blood pressure. Of course, these changes may also occur to your working lifestyle depending on what your tasks require you to do.

Talk to your manager (if you have one) and see about changing your work setup such as your desk or your tools. Start alternating which hand you use for tasks, do not just use one all the time. Use only the necessary force, do not exceed it by holding tools too tightly or pounding away at the keyboard (remember take breaks from 10 to 15 minutes preferably every hour).

 

Dr. John Knight
Dr. John Knight

Dr. Knight is a renowned hand, wrist and upper extremity surgeon with over 25 years of experience. Dr. Knight is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and Fellowship trained. Dr Knight has appeared on CNN, The Doctors TV, Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Oxygen network and more.