Carpal Tunnel: The Price We Pay

Do your hands tingle the day away or, do you wake up at night because they are so numb and painful that you wish you could cut them off? If any of this sounds familiar, then you may be like one of the millions of Americans suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome.

Carpal tunnel occurs when the median nerve, which runs down the forearm to the hand, is compressed, causing, in its later stages, unbearable pain and discomfort. The median nerve innervates the thumb and fingers, especially the first two (pointer and bird finger). It is also responsible for providing impulses to parts of the hand responsible for moving the fingers and thumb. So, what happens when this little guy gets compressed?

The symptoms of carpal tunnel are rather insidious in onset, meaning they start gradually and keep getting worse, especially if you keep doing the very thing that caused the symptoms in the first place. My symptoms include having a constant "pins and needles" sensation in both of my hands every minute of every day. At night, I am forced out of a dead sleep because my thumb and first two fingers are completely numb. When I try to wake them up, by shaking them, or repositioning them, there is a fiery, burning sensation that throbs up my arm which literally brings me to tears. The process of waking my hands up so I can function can sometimes take hours. It is awful. I recently started wearing braces at night, which does seem to help, although my hands still tingle all day long.

To learn more about carpal tunnel syndrome and what you can do about it, visit:

The Carpal Tunnel Fact Sheet