Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – Symptoms and Treatment

Contrary to what you may believe, carpal tunnel syndrome can affect both your hands and both your wrists. Essentially, people who are required to perform repetitive tasks with their hands are at most risk of developing this condition. In fact, according to statistics, approximately 5% of the American population suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome. Interestingly enough however, statistics reveal that women are more at risk than men, although men can also succumb to the condition. If you have any reason to believe that you may be suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome, then you should make every effort to familiarize yourself with the condition, including symptoms, treatment, and etc.

Essentially, when there is sufficient pressure on the median nerve in your wrist joints to cause numbness, tingling, and pain, this will then be diagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome. If your hands and fingers are required to do excessive repetitive motions, it can result in undue pressure on the median nerve due to the ligaments and tendons becoming inflamed, and this is what causes you to experience the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

The pain which results from carpal tunnel syndrome can manifest itself in your wrists, the palms of your hands, your forearms, elbows, and even your shoulders. Bear in mind however that although pain is almost always present with the condition, sufferers can also experience numbness in the hands and fingers. In fact, many people who to suffer from this condition report feeling a tingling sensation in the fingers, hands, and wrists. Once the condition has surfaced, the pain you experience will become progressively worse as you continue to use your hands and fingers. Interestingly enough, the pain is often at its worst at night when you’re no longer using your fingers and hands.

All is not lost however, in that there are several different treatment options available to those suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. Obviously, non-surgical treatments are always the first choice for treating the condition. For example, many people find relief by applying ice packs to the affected areas in order to reduce swelling. Likewise, many people have found that special wrist splints can offer a great deal of relief, particularly if they take NSAIDs at the same time in order to relieve inflammation and pain.

Of course, there are some times when conservative treatment options fail and more aggressive treatments may be needed. Surgery is considered an aggressive treatment and it is not used unless the problem with carpal tunnel is especially serious. If you have already tried some of the other treatments and you are still having the carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms, then your doctor may recommend that you try the surgery to help deal with this problem. For many patients surgery is finally the way that they are able to get rid of the symptoms that they are dealing with.

Tom Nicholson has spent years caring for carpal tunnel sufferers. Please click here to see how he relieves carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms.