When you have tingling pain, numbness, and weakness in the thumb-to-ring fingers it could be carpal tunnel syndrome. It itself is not a disease rather it can be said as the condition of medial nerve compression. This condition is usually three times more common in women than men.
Carpal tunnel surgery is one of the most common hand conditions that require surgery if the symptoms worsen. we should know when to do surgery. let’s discuss it.
What does Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Mean?
Carpal tunnel syndrome is simply due to the pressure on the median nerve in the carpal tunnel of the wrist joint causing burning pain in your thumb and all other fingers except your pinky.
Why Median Nerve Compression in Carpal Tunnel?
The carpal tunnel is the tunnel in the wrist and it is a narrow path made of the bone and ligaments through which the median nerve passes. The wrist contains major 3 nerves Radial nerve, Median nerve, and Ulnar nerve which is innervated over the hand.
The median nerve usually supplies the muscle and skin of the thenar, palm, thumbs, index finger, and half of the middle finger.
When lots of movement and activities, there will be swelling of the surrounding tissues, then the tunnel gets squeezed and hence pinches the median nerve and thus causes your symptoms.
What are carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms and signs?
Usually, carpal tunnel Symptoms appear in the morning but may happen at other times too.
Symptoms will worsen with hand activities grasping, driving, and washing items. Weakness while gripping objects with hands
- Pain or numbness in one or both hands
- “Pins and needles” feeling in the fingers
- Swollen feeling in the fingers
- Burning or tingling in the fingers, especially the thumb and the index and middle fingers sometimes half of the ring fingers as well
- Pain or numbness that is worse at night, interrupting sleep
- feeling of dropping of object from the hand
Carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms are often at the time of pregnancy
In females, the Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome often occur at the time of pregnancy and they are improved after delivery. Such patients are highly prone to the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome later.
When Carpal Tunnel Syndromes Need Surgery?
Long-time symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome can weaken the muscles around your hands and wrists. And can get worse if it is not treated.
You need to know when to get surgery. If you might have the following situation, your doctor would suggest surgery:
- Treatment with braces doesn’t lower pain
- Treatment with contortionists and pain medicines hasn’t helped
- If the tingling sensation, pain, and numbness don’t go away or get better in 6 months.
- If your hand gets difficult to grip, grasp, or pinch objects
- If the muscle in the palm atrophy (decreases the size of palm muscle)
Other Treatments before doing carpal tunnel syndrome surgery
Before doing surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome surgery, conservative treatment can also be done. Following are some of the treatment principles that can be done.
- Splinting your affected hand
- Splinting will help to heal inflammation of the nerve.
- Anti-inflammatory medication
- Painkillers will reduce the inflammation that will reduce pain.
- Changing lifestyle and working habits
- improves the ergonomics and will help ease symptoms
- Exercise
- Strengthening and stretching exercises are helpful and should be supervised by a physical or occupational therapist.
- steroid injection
- steroid injection also reduces inflammation which will reduce the burning sensation and pain
Conclusion
Carpal tunnel syndrome is the condition where you feel tingling, numbing, and weakness in your wrists and hands. Too much and long-time compression of the median nerve causes this.
For early symptoms, conservative treatments with medicines, and physiotherapy can be done but if you have persistent pain tingling sensation, or weakness in the wrist and hand then Surgery for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is needed. you also need to physio