CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

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f you have pain in your wrist, or they tingle at night, or you just can’t squeeze something you may something called Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) which is an injury caused by a pinched nerve in the wrist. At this office, we deal with pinched nerves, even the ones in your wrists.

The injury causes pain and numbness in the index and middle fingers and “weakness” of the thumb. Carpal tunnel receives its name from the eight bones in the wrist, called carpals, which form a “tunnel” through which the nerve leading to the hand extends.

Signs and Symptoms include:

  • Nighttime painful tingling in one or both hands, frequently causing sleep disturbance  
  • Feeling of uselessness in the fingers
  • A sense that fingers are swollen even though little or no swelling is apparent
  • Daytime tingling in the hands, followed by a decreased ability to squeeze things
  • Loss of strength in the muscle at the base of the thumb, near the palm
  • Pain shooting from the hand up the arm as far as the shoulder

What Causes It?

The carpal tunnel is filled with tendons (bundles of collagen fibers that attach muscle to bone) that control finger movement. Tasks requiring highly repetitive and forceful movements of the wrist can cause swelling around the tendons, resulting in a pinched nerve and producing CTS.  Trauma, falls, sprains, strains, certain diseases, and pregnancy may also trigger CTS.