Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Symptoms

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be sneaky. The symptoms start out so minor, you may not even take note of them. It is often only once the symptoms have progressed that you begin to realize you may have a problem.

Jonathan Cluett, an orthopedic doctor, said that two carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms are the most common. These are tingling sensations and numbness feeling of both fingers and hands. Carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms usually start gradually, with frequent burning or itching deadness in the palm of the hand and the fingers, especially the thumb and the index and middle fingers.

Some of those who already have experienced say their fingers feel useless and swollen, even though little or no thickening is apparent. The carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms often first appear in one or both hands during the night, since many people sleep with flexed wrists. A person with carpal tunnel syndrome may wake up feeling the need to "shake out" the hand or wrist.

As it worsens, people might feel tingling during the day. Decreased grip strength may make it difficult to form a fist, grasp small objects or perform other manual tasks. In chronic and untreated cases, the muscles at the base of the thumb may waste away. Some people are even unable to tell a temperature, between hot and cold by touch.

What are the causes of these carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is often the result of a combination of factors that increase pressure on the median nerve and tendons in the carpal tunnel, rather than a problem with the nerve itself. Most likely the disorder is due to a congenital predisposition where the carpal tunnel is simply smaller in some people than in others.

Other contributing factors include trauma or injury to the wrist that cause swelling. They are as follows sprain or fracture; over activity of the pituitary gland; hypothyroidism; rheumatoid arthritis; mechanical problems in the wrist joint; work stress; repeated use of vibrating hand tools; fluid retention during pregnancy or menopause; or the development of a cyst or tumor in that part of the body. There are even cases that it just cannot be identified.

There is little clinical data to prove whether repetitive and forceful movements of the hand and wrist during work or leisure activities can cause carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms. Repeated motions performed in the course of normal work or other daily activities can result in repetitive motion disorders such as bursitis and tendonitis.

Writer's cramp is a condition in which a lack of fine motor skill coordination, ache and pressure in the fingers, wrist or forearm is brought on by repetitive activity. It is not one of the carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms.

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