Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disorder that stems from a nerve impingement occurring on the anterior aspect of the wrist.
It commonly associates with symptoms that affect the palm, fingers, wrist and forearm. Symptoms vary greatly but commonly include numbness and pain. We describe numbness as one form of paresthesia. Other forms include tingling, burning, cold, aching and spasmed. These are relatively nasty sensations that accompany pain, and are common when the pain is resulting from a nerve inflammation.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common diagnosis that results in a surgical procedure, but there are many disorders that can cause very similar symptoms and most are not a good reason to undergo a surgical procedure.
drawing by Justin Bean
Many of the more common causes for pain and paresthesia in the wrists and hands stems from a more benign cause. Tendinitis commonly results from the sort of overuse of the hands and wrists that we commonly see with computers and other modern contrivances. Arthritis of the hands and wrists is a common cause for pain and numbness.
Acupuncturists tend to use more old-fashioned methods. Our interventions predate modern imaging technology and does not rely on its findings in order to determine treatment strategy.
One commonly overlooked aspect of carpal tunnel syndrome is its symptom picture. Patients commonly are convinced that they have carpal tunnel syndrome when their symptoms suggest otherwise. It is often helpful to note the specifics.
drawing by Justin Bean
The carpal tunnel carries through it the median nerve, along with some blood vessels. This allows this important nerve to travel through the very bony aspect of our wrist relatively protected from trauma from the outside or impingement from the bones and tissues when we twist or bend our wrists.
Unfortunately, for some individuals, the carpal tunnel itself can become inflamed. This causes a combination of swelling and contracture that can reduce the amount of space available for the vessels as they travel through. This causes an impingement and inflammation of the median nerve.
drawing by Justin Bean
It is important to note that the median nerve does not innervate the pinky finger. Again, many more common causes for wrist and hand pain exist. Any of those syndromes may cause similar symptoms. If any patient experiences symptoms in their hand that include the pinky finger, carpal tunnel may not be implicated.
The median nerve does not include the lateral half of the ring finger or any of the pinky finger or the lateral side of the hand. Symptoms occurring that include these areas, likely do not result from the impingement of the median nerve as it transverses the carpal tunnel.
drawing by Justin Bean
drawing by Justin Bean