7th October 2020
What are the warning signs of Carpal Tunnel?
What are the best treatments for Carpal Tunnel?
What is Carpal Tunnel?
The carpal tunnel is a narrow passage in your wrist, through which your median nerve and the tendons to your thumb and fingers pass. If you have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, your median nerve is squashed, from pressure on it.
What are the Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel?
- Numbness or tingling in your thumb and fingers
- Pain in your wrist, which can shoot into your fingers, or sometimes up to your elbow.
- Muscle weakness, especially if you have to grip something.
- Night symptoms – eg burning pain, or when doing the same task for a long time, like long-distance driving.
What are the Causes of Carpal Tunnel?
We don’t always know, exactly. Anything that causes swelling in the carpal tunnel can cause it. It can happen if your tendons become inflamed, putting pressure on your median nerve. It can happen in one or both wrists. It is more common in women.
Some conditions that can cause your wrists to swell can also cause carpal tunnel syndrome, or make it worse. They include:
- pregnancy
- obesity
- fluid retention
- diabetes and hypothyroidism
- rheumatoid arthritis and connective tissue diseases
- wrist wounds or broken bones.
- after forceful or repetitive movements of your wrist or hand.
