If you have “classic” carpal tunnel syndrome, your symptoms are:
- Tingling and numbness in your thumb, index and middle finger.
- Aching in the forearm which can radiate to the shoulder and clumsiness or weak grip.
Not everyone shows classic, textbook carpal tunnel symptoms – you may be one of these. Instead, you may have:
- Tingling in all fingers
- Tingling only in the thumb or the middle finger
- Aching and pain in the hand
- Radiating pain to the shoulder or back.
Think of the carpal tunnel as exactly that – a tunnel inside your hand. This tunnel is formed by a semi-circle of carpal bones on three sides. The fourth side of the tunnel is the transverse carpal ligament. This ligament cannot stretch.
So the carpal tunnel is a defined space that cannot enlarge. There is only so much room in the tunnel. This roominess is critical to good hand health. Through the tunnel’s opening passes the median nerve, nine tendons, and spongy tissue around the tendons called tenosynovium. We start our lives with extra space in the tunnel.
The tenosynovium swells for a number or reasons – when you run out of extra space because of this swelling, then pressure is placed on the median nerve. You develop carpal tunnel symptoms. There is no longer enough room for everything to fit comfortably inside the carpal tunnel. So you’re suffering.
At The Hand Center, our treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome is not just to reduce pressure on the nerve so that your symptoms are tolerable, so you can live with it. Instead, the goal is to relieve the pressure entirely, reduce the chance of permanent nerve damage – and offer you an entirely comfortable, entirely safe experience.
