Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - Symptoms and Treatment
Posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 1:38 pmBoth the hands and the wrists can be affected if you end up with carpal tunnel syndrome. This problem often affects those who do a lot of repetitive motions with their arms and hands. Statistics now show that about 5%, or more, or the population in the United States are dealing with carpal tunnel. While women are more likely to deal with this problem, men can also develop it as well. If you have this problem, you should take the time to learn everything about it you can, including the carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms, treatments available, and more.
Whenever there is enough pressure on your median nerve in your wrist to cause numbness and pain, this is diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. In between the bones that are in your wrist, the median nerve goes through, and sometimes pressure can occur to the nerve when the ligaments and tendons become inflamed. This is what causes the carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms to show up in the first place.
Pain in your wrist, pain in the palms, or even pain in the forearms are all carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms. Although pain is a big symptom, you are also going to find that numbness in your hand and fingers is also a big symptom. Tingling can also occur in these locations as well and is considered to be a symptom of carpal tunnel. As you continue to use the wrist more and more, you will probably notice that the pain gets worse. Often the symptoms of carpal tunnel will get even worse at night as well.
All is not doom and gloom however because there are several treatment options available for people suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, and in most cases the condition can be treated by means of non-surgical treatments. Because the vast majority of people would rather avoid surgery, they usually begin treatment by using ice packs in order to reduce swelling. Sufferers can also use special wrist splints, in addition to taking NSAIDs for the relief of pain and inflammation.
Of course, there are some times when conservative treatment options fail and more aggressive treatments may be needed. Surgery is considered an aggressive treatment and it is not used unless the problem with carpal tunnel is especially serious. If you have already tried some of the other treatments and you are still having the carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms, then your doctor may recommend that you try the surgery to help deal with this problem. For many patients surgery is finally the way that they are able to get rid of the symptoms that they are dealing with.
Tom Nicholson spends his time caring for carpal tunnel sufferers. Please click here for how he cures carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms.

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