What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition that causes tingling, numbness and pain in the palm of hand due a major nerve in hand the median nerve which gets squeezed/compressed as it travels through the wrist.
Carpal tunnel is a small passage in the wrist formed by small wrist bones and connective tissues. Through this the tendons and the nerves pass to supply the hand. The nerves are elastic but the tunnel is a rigid structure which over time gets narrowed in few people and leads to compression of the median nerve.
What causes carpal tunnel syndrome?
Women and older people are the ones who suffer more.
Heredity: some people have smaller carpal tunnel diameter leading to predisposition for this condition.
Repetitive hand movements: usually seen in IT sector certain sports and house wife, a certain set of repetitive hand movements may cause the tendons to synovium to be irritated causing swelling and narrowing of the canal.
Hand and wrist position: any activity involving extreme flexion and extension of the hand and wrist can increase pressure on the nerves.
Pregnancy: hormonal changes in pregnancy causes swelling and leads to carpal tunnel syndrome.
Other factors: rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, hypothyroidism are all linked to develop carpal tunnel. syndrome.
What are the symptoms?
Tingling sensations in the middle and the index fingers.
Pain along the same area which may radiate up to the forearm which may increase during the sleep.
Weakness and clumsiness in the hand which makes regular activities like holding a pen or buttoning a shirt difficult.
How diagnosis is made?
The diagnosis is done through detailed clinical history, various clinical examinations and few investigations like electrophysiological studies of the nerve and MRI. A real time dynamic ultrasound gives valuable information about the diameter of the nerve, any collection of fluid around the nerve or in the canal.
