Carpal Tunnel Specialist

What is carpal tunnel syndrome?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition of the hand and wrist. It develops when the median nerve comes under pressure as it goes through the bony carpal tunnel in your wrist.

The median nerve travels down from your shoulder to the thumb side of your hand that carries signals controlling your thumb’s motor function. The carpal tunnel, which consists of several small bones connected by ligaments, should protect the nerve. However, the space is limited, so anything that makes the carpal tunnel narrower can compress the median nerve.

Wrist fractures and conditions like rheumatoid arthritis can lead to nerve compression in your carpal tunnel. However, one of the most common causes of carpal tunnel syndrome is repetitive stress in the wrist ligaments that causes them to thicken.

What symptoms does carpal tunnel syndrome cause? 

To begin with, you might find your wrist is aching a lot and possibly feeling weaker. You might get tingling or burning sensations in your thumb, first fingers, and palm that spread from your wrist.

As the condition worsens, you start waking in the morning with a numb wrist and hand as your wrist tends to bend over at night, making the compression worse. The wrist gets increasingly painful, and you might find it spreads into your arm, sometimes up to your shoulder.

You’re also likely to have problems gripping. Consequently, you might tend to drop things, find it hard to unscrew jar lids or open doors with knobs, and struggle to write or type.

What treatments can help with carpal tunnel syndrome?

The sooner you treat symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, the better, as early intervention stops the condition from worsening. Your provider at Martin Orthopedics can fit you with a splint that you wear overnight, which prevents your wrist from folding over. This is highly effective for early-stage carpal tunnel syndrome.

Physical therapy is also beneficial. It strengthens your wrists and helps you find different ways to perform the tasks that make your symptoms worse. For more advanced carpal tunnel syndrome, steroid injections into the wrist can effectively reduce inflammation and pain.

If none of these treatments is relieving your carpal tunnel symptoms, surgery offers long-lasting relief. Your surgeon makes an incision in your hand near your wrist and cuts the ligament that’s pressurizing your median nerve, providing almost instant relief from carpal tunnel pain. It’s also possible to do this operation using minimally invasive techniques.

If you’re experiencing carpal tunnel symptoms, call Martin Orthopedics today for prompt diagnosis and treatment or book an appointment online.