Pain and Weakness in Your Hand? It Could be Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

It’s not until there’s a problem that you realize how much you rely on something, which is very much the case when it comes to your all-important hands. If you’ve been dealing with pain, numbness, and weakness in one of your hands, you want to find answers sooner rather than later.

One of the first stops on your investigative journey should be carpal tunnel syndrome, which affects between 3% and 6% of the general population. This small nerve entrapment issue can have a surprisingly large impact on your life, so let’s get you on the road to some answers. 

As a neurologist, Dr. Paul Gill deals with all things related to your nervous system, which includes peripheral nerve issues like carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Here at Gill Neuroscience, we focus on education and solutions, so read on to learn more about CTS and how we treat the problem.

Carpal tunnel basics

As the name suggests, a nerve entrapment problem is one in which a nerve or group of nerves is being compressed. This can occur in many places in your body (think sciatica in your back), including in your wrists and hands.

Your carpal tunnel is just that — a passageway on the underside of each of your wrists. This small, one-inch-wide tunnel is a busy one, as it provides passage for nine flexor tendons that control the movement in your fingers, as well as your median nerve. 

Your median nerve travels all the way down your arm and into your hand, where it provides sensation in your thumb, pointer finger, middle finger, and the thumb-side of your ring finger.

When nerves become entrapped in your carpal tunnel

Given how small the space is, your carpal tunnel can ill afford anything that crowds the area. With carpal tunnel syndrome, that’s precisely what occurs. 

CTS is the most common type of nerve entrapment, and it occurs when there's swelling around your flexor tendons. More specifically, the  synovium that surrounds the flexor tendons becomes inflamed, which places pressure on the median nerve and also cuts off the nerve’s blood supply. 

As a result of the nerve entrapment, you can experience:

• Numbness and tingling in your hand and four fingers
• Pain in your wrist, which can travel back up your arm
• Weakness in your hand
• Shock-like sensations in your hand and fingers

These symptoms can come and go or they can be more constant, even keeping you up at night if the nerve entrapment is moderate to severe.

Risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome

Give how prevalent CTS is, it’s little wonder that there are many risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome, such as:

• Being female — carpal tunnels are generally smaller in women
• Inheriting a smaller carpal tunnel
• Repetitive hand use
• Pregnancy — hormonal changes can cause swelling
• Having diabetes

If you hold your hand and wrist in awkward positions for long periods, this also can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.

Getting use of your hand back

If after conducting nerve testing we find that you have carpal tunnel syndrome, we can get you started on a treatment program that will include one or more of the following:

• Nerve gliding exercises
• Splinting or bracing your wrist into a straighter position
• Activity modification (resting your hand)
• Corticosteroid injections to reduce pain and inflammation

If these conservative measures don’t work, we can discuss surgery to create more space in your carpal tunnel and relieve the nerve compression.

We also want to underscore the importance of coming to see us at the first signs of a problem. The longer carpal tunnel syndrome goes untreated, the more challenging it can become to remedy.

So to regain pain- and symptom-free use of your hand again, it’s a good idea to call our office in Houston, Texas, at 832-912-7777, or use our online request form to schedule an appointment.