Information and Services

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common disease that occurs in the patient's hands, wrists and occasionally in the entire upper limb causing numbness and pain. This condition can be caused by several factors but most commonly is due to frequent repetitive movements of the hands or injured wrists.

The carpal tunnel is a narrow tube composed of bones and the transverse carpal ligament in the wrist. This tube is responsible for protecting the median nerve that controls the sensory functions of the thumb, index, middle and part of the ring fingers. When the median nerve is compressed or squeezed, some of the fingers and hand will have symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome such as paralysis and pain.

Symptoms

Early clinical signs are numbness and tingling in the thumb, index, middle and ring finger especially at night or in the morning. Patients usually wake up early due to wrist pain.

Symptoms in the middle stage are persistent paralysis and tingling of the fingers. The patient's wrist grip becomes weak as things falling from the hand becomes common. The numbness radiates to the elbow and even to the shoulder.

At a later stage, hand muscles will shrink, which restricts hand function and seriously affects patients' daily life and sleep quality. 

Treatments

Patients with mild symptoms should avoid excessive wrist activities and whenever possible let the hands and wrists rest. Applying ice packs externally can also help relieve the pain of hands and wrists.

If the pain is related to work or some kind of repetitive activity, this should be stopped or adjusted thoroughly from adjusting your work environment such as using a mouse pad with a wrist rest or improving the choice of working equipment. Most patients undergoing an early and suitable treatment such as adjustment of the hand bone, high power laser therapy, making use of a wristband, can relieve the feeling of pain and paralysis that let’s their hand and wrist regain their normal functions.

If there is no obvious improvement with non-surgical treatments or the patient’s condition is confirmed to be serious, the doctor can advise on surgical procedure options.