What do you understand about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

How do you explain carpal tunnel syndrome? This is actually a wrist related condition, where "carpal" or "carpus" originated from the Greek word "karpos", meaning "wrist". Our median nerve passes through a "tunnel", or the space between the carpal bones (the eight bones of the wrist) and the fibrous tissue that surrounds the wrist. The nerves would then send messages of sensations to our receivers, in our fingers and our hands. Carpal tunnel syndrome happens when there is any change in the tissues around the tunnel area, which would trigger the median nerve, causing the sensations of numbness or tingles in the fingers.

What do you understand about the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

In more serious cases, the hands or wrist area may experience a kind of burning sensation, which sometimes lead to cramps and weak hands. There might also be complaints of sudden pains in the arm areas from long term patients. In general cases, most Carpal Tunnel patients feel a numbness and tingling of their hands in the median nerve area, which spreads at the thumb, index, middle and part of the fourth finger. This might be quite painful in effect, and can wake you up at night. The sensations could come and go at times, or stay on in more serious cases.

What do you know about the treatments of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

There are many methods to treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and this will depend on how serious the symptoms are. In general cases, initial treatment includes splinting of the affected wrist, resting at home, or ice application. For patients who frequently utilize their hands for work, they are counseled to amend to better sitting positions for more comfort, so as to cause less dependence on the hands or wrists. However, for severe cases, surgery is needed. For alternative methods, natural cures include a switch in the patient's daily routines, healthier diet to remove toxins from the body, as well as wrist exercises to ease the pain on the carpal nerves. There are Carpal Tunnel patients who report complete recovery after practicing daily wrist exercise and self massage.