Activities and sports requiring the same motion over and over again, such as swinging a tennis or pickleball racquet or typing on a keyboard, can create stress on your wrists, hands, and fingers. These repetitive activities can irritate your nerves and tendons resulting in pain, swelling, and loss of muscle strength. Those symptoms together are called Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSIs), and one of the most common RSI’s is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Think you might have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Read on to learn about the 5 Common Signs of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and how to treat it.
What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome develops when the nerve that runs from your forearm through your wrist gets “pinched”. Your wrist bones form an arch that make up the top of your carpal “tunnel” and the bottom of the tunnel is a thick ligament that helps hold it open. The tendons that bend your fingers and the nerve that supplies the muscles and feeling to your fingers pass through this tunnel. When this “median” nerve is pinched or compressed, symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can develop.
Causes of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
The exact cause of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is not known but repetitive movements, pregnancy, as well as arthritis and broken bones can cause the “compressed” nerve that leads to it.
Common Symptoms
How do you know if you have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Here are the
5 most common signs of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Aching, painful feeling near your wrist
- Numbness in your thumb and first three fingers
- Tingling pain or pins and needles in your fingers
- Weaker hand grip
- Frequently drop things
You may feel itchiness, numbness, or burning in your fingers and hand. Numbness and tingling is common in the thumb and index, middle and ring fingers. You may feel the need to shake your hand to restore feeling in your fingers. Sometimes, symptoms can be worse during the night, but they can also be felt during daily activities. Over time, as that nerve shorts out like a kinked electrical cord, the symptoms can radiate up your arm.
Treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be treated in a variety of ways, ranging from a wrist splint to steroid injections. It can be and should be treated early, before symptoms progress and become permanent. Wearing a splint or brace to hold your wrist in a neutral position during the day and performing exercises to stretch and straighten your wrist can help reduce the symptoms.
Ultra-light comfort, with open-air design the Fix Comfort Wrist Brace holds your wrist in the proper position to reduce the tingling and discomfort caused by pressure on the nerve in the carpal tunnel.
The 3pp Choice Wrist Brace provides firm support to protect the wrist while still allowing full finger and thumb motion. Cushioned with pillow-soft padding and an inner sleeve, it provides support and comfort during the day and rest at night for a good night’s sleep without the tingling or numbness caused by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
The WS6 Compression Wrist Brace provides gentle compression that helps prevent the swelling that can cause aching hands and symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
WS6 Wrist Compression Sleeve
You should continue to wear a brace for at least 4 to 8 weeks or until your symptoms are gone. Wearing a wrist brace at night, can also help decrease any swelling and lessen the pressure on the nerve.
If you have worn your wrist brace for 8 weeks and still have symptoms, it’s important to consult with your health care provider or a specialist for alternative treatments. If your nerve remains compressed, it can result in permanent damage. If recommended, a simple outpatient surgery can be very successful for long term and permanent relief of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
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Our blogs are educational in nature and are not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Because your condition is unique to you, it is recommended that you consult with your health care provider before attempting any medical or therapeutic treatments. We are always happy to answer questions about products mentioned in our blogs, however, we cannot provide a diagnosis or medical advice
I have pain on the inside palm of my hand running from ring finger to middle of palm. Is this carpel tunnel symptom also?
Hello, I’m sorry to hear that you are experiencing pain in your hand. Please know that while we can provide information on certain health conditions, we are not medical professionals and are unable to give medical advice. We recommend that you consult with a healthcare professional or a certified hand specialist. Here is some more information on the symptoms and treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome that may be helpful. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Can carpal tunnel cause tingling in the arm too
Does carpal tunnel affect your elbow as well reason be ,I m having pain there too
Hi Caryl, Please know that while we can provide information on certain health conditions, we are not medical professionals and are unable to give medical advice. With that said, common symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome include: pain, numbness or tingling in your thumb, first finger, middle finger and ring finger; “pins and needles” in your fingers, especially if you bend your wrist; fingers “fall asleep” especially at night when sleeping with the wrist bent and you need to shake your hand to restore feeling in your fingers. We suggest that you consult with your healthcare provider or a certified hand therapist who can examine your wrist and elbow and provide a correct diagnosis and treatment.
Thank you
I had no idea that if your hand grip starts to weaken and if you feel episodes of numbness and pain around your wrist are signs of carpal tunnel syndrome. My boss told me that she’s experiencing this recently, and it’s starting to affect her productivity. I’ll share this with her and suggest that she visit an orthopedist for a medical evaluation.
I’m glad you mentioned that carpal tunnel can commonly cause numbness or burning in the middle and ring fingers. For the last two weeks or so, the ring finger of my right hand has been going numb at night.
Thank you for explaining that if the symptoms do not stop after eight weeks of wearing the splint, you might need to consider other treatment. I have been noticing some signs of carpal tunnel, but nothing seems to be working. I’ll schedule an appointment with my doctor and see what he would recommend for me, if that be surgery or otherwise.
Absolutely right, these are the most common symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Needles sensation irritates the most. Thanks for sharing with us.
I noticed that my wrists have been hurting a lot, and it’s been harder to hold on to things. I had no idea that those were the symptoms of carpal tunnel!
Very interesting read, thank you for the informative information