Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: How to Spot and Treat the Disease

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful disorder of the wrist, hand, and even the lower arm. The "carpal tunnel" is a narrow and tight tunnel formed by the bones and other muscle tissues of your wrist. This tunnel protects your median nerve, the major sensory nerve in your wrist. This nerve is important because it gives you feeling in your fingers. But when other tissues in the carpal tunnel, such as ligaments and tendons, get swollen, inflamed or injured, they press and squeeze against the median nerve. That pressure can make part of your hand hurt severly or feel numb, both of which can impair you of completing daily taskes.

Surprisingly, carpal tunnel is three times more likely to affect men than women. But medical research has shown that anyone can get carpal tunnel syndrome.

Carpal tunnel can be caused by numerous things, but especially doing to the same movement over and over again. Things such as gardening, typing, knitting, etc have been linked to causing carpal tunnel. It can also be caused by more severe diseases such as diabetes or arthritis. Women have been known to get carpal tunnel within the last few weeks of pregnancy.

Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome:

- Numbness, tingling, or pain in your hand and fingers, especially the thumb and index and middle fingers.

- Sharp pain in your wrist, palm or forearm.

- More numbness or pain at night than during the day. The pain may be bad enough it wakes you up in the middle of the night.

- More pain when you use your hand or wrist more.

- Trouble gripping objects or picking things up.

- Weakness in your thumb or any of your fingers.

- Numbness in the palm of your hand.

- Limited joint usage.

While carpal tunnel is not a severe problem, and can actually go away without leaving any damage, it can affect your daily life. Carpal tunnel needs to be taken seriously. Sometimes symptoms will only appear when it is cold out or when it rains, similar to cases of arthritis. It can occur is either or both wrists. If you suspect you have carpal tunnel, seeing a doctor is suggested. Doctors will explain to you how to treat your carpal tunnel. Many times they will suggest taking a mild painkiller, using a split when having to use your hands, and icing your wrists. All will provide relief. If the carpal tunnel is caused by underlyings problems, the doctor will most likely treat that first.

Tips on relieving carpal tunnel syndrome:

- Prop up your arm with pillows when you lie down.

- Avoid using your hand too much.

- Find a new way to use your hand by using a different tool.

- Try to use the other hand more often.

- Avoid bending your wrists down for long periods.

- Take frequent rest breaks.

- Slow down when performing tasks.

Although carpal tunnel is not considered a major problem, sometimes minor surgery is the only option for treating it. This can only be decided by a doctor who will order tests to be done.

Carpal Tunnel can be prevented through lifestyles changes.

Things that may help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome:

- Lose weight if you're overweight.

- Eat healthy and excercise often.

- Get treatment for any disease you have that can be linked to 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.

- 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 hands often during work tasks.

- 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 keyboard often, adjust the height of your chair or desk so that your forearms are level with your keyboard and you don't have to flex your wrists to type. Or you can get a padded keyboard bottom to provide relief and prevent you from straining your wrists.