Causes and Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

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What are causes and symptoms of carpel tunnel syndrome? The wrist has a narrow space that we call as ‘carpal tunnel’ which has bones & transverse carpal ligament. This space is the area where the forearm and palm meet, and also has important function to accommodate median nerve and tendons that connected with the hand.

You might also like to know more about trigger finger treatment and causes of back pain, before continuing!

And there are some problems or certain illness that can lead to ‘too-small space of carpal tunnel’ or also often associated what we call as ‘carpal tunnel syndrome’!

Some common symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome are tingling, pain, or other uncomfortable conditions in the hand due to unfriendly pressure on the wrist’s median nerve! Median nerve is closely associated with the feeling & movement control of 3 major fingers and thumb!

In several cases, the cause of this syndrome cannot be diagnosed! Generally, this syndrome is relatively more common in workplaces that need repetitive/forceful hand-arm vibration, hand movements, or other conditions with awkward positions. The risk of carpal tunnel syndrome can significantly increase in combination between these conditions and other certain health conditions that affect the median nerve in the wrist.

Causes of carpal tunnel syndrome

Any factors or conditions (including any activities or health conditions) that can decrease the space area of carpal tunnel or give unfriendly pressure on the median nerve will put you at high risk of this syndrome.
The following some conditions or causes that can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome:

1. Smoking! The performance of blood flow to median nerve can be influenced by cigarette smoking, which then may put you at high risk of this syndrome.
2. Ganglions or certain tumors! Fortunately, these are uncommon causes!
3. Edema (a kind of fluid-buildup) in the carpal tunnel which usually occur from other health conditions, particularly such as diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis. Sometimes pregnancy also can lead to edema!
4. Tear and wear of the tissues in your hand that can naturally occur as you get older. These conditions and swelled membranes of tendons in the wrist also can occur due to repeatedly movement of your wrist or hand.
5. The pressure on the median nerve also can be created due to other conditions that take more space of carpal tunnel, such as bone spurs, healing bones that also create new bone growth, dislocated bones, and broken-bones in the wrist.
6. Other causes are certain illnesses or health conditions (such as; hypothyroidism, gout, obesity, lupus, gout, and rheumatoid arthritis) that can affect the blood flow of your hands, contribute to swelling in the joints, and cause arm pain!

Symptoms of Carpel tunnel syndrome

Half of the ring finger, index finger, middle finger, and thumb are some common areas where the symptoms of carpel tunnel syndrome occur. But sometimes pain, numbness, weakness, or tingling may also be felt in the palm. And as mentioned before, your little finger may not be affected when you have this syndrome, because there is different nerve that controls your little finger.

The symptoms can be felt in one of your hands or both your hands! But in many cases, people with this syndrome usually experience worse symptoms in one hand than the other!

Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome can be divided into two major categories; mild and severe symptoms. For the mild symptoms may include:

1. Stiffness in the fingers, particularly when getting up in the morning.
2. Pain/numbness that usually will get worse when you want to grip an object by using your wrist or hand!
3. You may also experience aching pain in areas between wrist and elbow that usually occurs occasionally.
4. Pain, tingling, and numbness in the wrist, forearm, or hand that can awaken you when you sleep at night!
5. Sometimes these symptoms may also radiate up to the shoulder.

And for severe symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome may include numbness or decreased strength & grip in the thumb, finger, or hand, which then can cause difficulties on using the thumb (even only for simple tasks, like using a screwdriver), pinching an object between your first finger & thumb, or doing simple movements with your hands (like holding spoon). These conditions will put you at higher chance of accidentally dropping objects.

*** Talk & discuss more with your doctor to get clearly diagnosis, treatments and other advice!
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Reference: WebMD