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A disorder that is caused from the compression or swelling in the median nerve of the wrist, carpal tunnel syndrome cause tingling, numbness and pain. These symptoms are often felt in the palm of the hand, thumb and first three fingers. It is a gradually developing disorder and the cause is not fully understood. Carpal tunnel syndrome has been linked to diabetes, arthritis, bone enlargement, reduced thyroid function, pregnancy, uremia, tendon inflammation and amyloidosis.

This disorder is often found in assembly line workers, writers, data entry workers, carpenters, and anyone else who either use vibrating machinery or use their wrists in a repetitive manner. Those who spend a lot of time on hobbies that affect the wrists like knitting, gardening and rowing may also see an increase in this problem. If you start to feel a tingling, numbness or pain in your hand, fingers and wrist, you may want to see your doctor. The exam will check for inflammation and your range of movement for your wrist. There are a few tests your doctor can do. Phalen’s test attempts to recreate the symptoms by flexing your wrists.

Tinel’s test checks for sensitivity of the median nerve. Your doctor will most likely prescribe anti-inflammatories in the case of swelling around the nerve. There is little evidence whether or not these are effective for carpal tunnel syndrome, but some patients have reported feeling some relief when using them. Another common treatment your doctor will recommend is a wrist brace. You can get these in the pharmacy area of most stores.

The wrist brace will help keep your wrist in a neutral position in an attempt to relieve the pressure on your median nerve. Some patients respond well to injections of corticosteroids to relieve the pain.

These recommendations can work for some people in the early stages of carpal tunnel syndrome. Severe cases are usually referred for surgery. Surgery is usually the answer if the other treatments have made no improvement on the condition over the course of several weeks. To relieve the problem, an incision is made in the palm and wrist. There is a flat ligament that runs from left to right at the bottom of the palm that covers the median nerve. It is called the transverse carpal ligament. The surgeon cuts the ligament from top to bottom, releasing the pressure on the nerve.

This usually relieves the problem unless there has been permanent damage done to the nerve. Recovery takes several weeks before the patient can return to light duty at work. By six weeks, they can return to normal duty. This surgery is usually done on an outpatient basis with a local anesthetic.

An alternative to surgery is physical therapy where a therapist will work with a patient to tech them at home exercises as well as exercise that will be done during therapy. Therapy is most effective when a patient takes the time to learn about the exercises and complete them correctly.