On the palm of your hand, there exists the carpal tunnel. The carpal tunnel is a slim pathway that is encircled by bones and ligaments. Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the carpal tunnel in your wrist becomes constricted. The median nerve is hence pressed due to pressure. Since the median nerve gives the ring, index, thumb and middle finger the ability to feel, when it is squeezed, it ceases sensation in the fingers and hands. While it is difficult to specify the main reason as to why carpal tunnel syndrome may have arose in someone, there persist several reasons that could have triggered it. These include trauma, pregnancy repeatedly doing something such as typing, and health conditions such as diabetes and arthritis.
Symptoms:
Numbness or prickling feeling:
- A prickling feeling in the fingers or a painful feeling is precisely in the thumb, middle, index, and ring fingers. Usually, the little finger is not impacted.
- There may be feelings of numbness, especially during nightfall.
- Fingertips can experience feelings of numbness.
- There is a tingling feeling or feeling of numbness that reaches up till your arm, specifically when holding your phone or when you have just woken up.
Fragility in hand:
- Infirmity of the hand can lead to consequences such as not performing tasks that need intricate hand movements such as sewing. Moreover, this can also lead to objects falling from your hand as the weakness progresses.
- Struggling with minor tasks such as holding onto the steering wheel while driving, keeping a grasp on a book, writing, or typing.
Treatment:
- Taking breaks. Taking breaks during a particular task can be extremely helpful. If constantly doing the same action, such as typing, is causing pain in your hand, then an excellent way to reduce the pain would be to reduce the number of times you are doing the particular action.
- At-home treatments. Exercising can be a crucial way to help strengthen actions to make your hand feel less fragile. There are specific nerve gliding exercises that can aid in shifting the nerve inside your carpal tunnel. Moreover, wearing a brace during the night can help keep your wrist straight. This will aid in lowering the pressure on your nerve. If you are using a computer, then owning a computer mouse that does not put pressure on your wrist can also help.
- Medicinal treatment. Medicines that help release the pain that is taken. Your doctor can prescribe these pain killers. Examples of these can include ibuprofen and Advil. These are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that reduce swelling and discomfort caused by carpal tunnel syndrome.
- As a last resort, assuming none of the other alternatives work and the case is getting worse day by day, you can opt for surgery. The surgery is called the open release surgery. In this, the surgeon expands the size of the carpal tunnel. Hence, this allows the pressure on the nerve to be released.
Hence, treating carpal tunnel syndrome as soon as possible is necessary because if you ignore it, it will get worse day by day. If you are facing any of the symptoms mentioned above and would like to get in touch with a neuro surgeon in your area, we have a list of great ones nearby! It is recommended to visit a Neuro Surgeon in Lahore or a Neuro Surgeon in Karachi, according to your location.
