Carpal Tunnel Symptoms

If you one of those at a nine to five desk job, who often feels a tingling sensation, or numbness, or pain in your fingers and hands? Not only does it cause discomfort, but the pain can make performing daily tasks like filing or typing difficult or impossible. And if these symptoms worsen over time, the condition could become chronic. The condition I am referring to is carpal tunnel syndrome.

So, What Exactly is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disorder that affects the hand and wrist, which can be quite painful. Well, the carpal tunnel is a passageway at the base of the hands, or the wrists, made up of bones and ligaments, through which the median nerve passes. The median nerve is what provides feeling to your thumb, the index finger, the middle finger, and the ring finger. When pressure is applied on the median nerve due to inflammation or swelling of the tendons and ligaments in the carpal tunnel, it results in weakness, tingling, numbness or pain in the fingers and hands.

What are the Causes of Carpal Tunnel Symptoms?

Doing repetitive movements with your hands can result in bringing on the carpal tunnel symptoms. It occurs more commonly amongst those whose job necessitates them having to grip or use their hands with the wrist in a bent position. For example, some of the people susceptible to carpal tunnel symptoms are: mechanics, musicians, meat packers, assembly-line workers, grocery checkers, carpenters, and of course those who use the computer for long periods of time. Carpal tunnel symptoms can even be brought on by hobbies like canoeing, golfing, needlework, and gardening.

Carpal tunnel symptoms may also be caused by other factors such as the wrist being injured, or affected by diseases like thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis, or diabetes. It also occurs sometimes in the last months of pregnancy.

Here are Some of the Common Carpal Tunnel Symptoms

• Tingling or numbness in the fingers and hands, particularly the thumb, the index finger, and the middle finger.
• Pain in the forearm, palm, or wrist.
• Increased numbness felt during the night compared to the day time. In fact, the pain could be so intense, that it could wake you up. You may find yourself rubbing or shaking your hand in order to alleviate the pain.
• Increased pain on using the wrist or hand more.
• Weakness in the thumb.
• Difficulty in gripping things.

Can Carpal Tunnel Symptoms be Prevented?

Here are some of the measures that you can take in order to prevent carpal tunnel symptoms from occurring:

• If your job requires performing the same tasks over and over with your hands, try not bending, twisting or extending your hands for extended periods of time.
• Avoid resting your wrists on surfaces that are hard for extended periods of time.
• While working, see that your arms are not too far away or too close to your body.
• While performing tasks, keep switching hands.
• Taking breaks regularly from repetitive hand movements is a good way to give your wrists and hands time to rest.
• Ensure that the tools you are using are not too large for your hands.
• If you use the keyboard for extended periods of time, make sure to see that your forearms are at the same level as the keyboard, and that you do not need to flex your wrists in order to type.
• If there are any diseases that are causing the carpal tunnel symptoms, get it treated.