Carpal tunnel syndrome, a common condition but often misdiagnosed

The carpal tunnel is the area on the wrist, the palm side of the hand, through which pass nine flexor tendons of the wrist and fingers and a major nerve. The walls of the tunnel are the wrist bones, bowl-shaped, which are at the bottom, and a type of tissue rather thick coming through these bones in the upper half and enduring tendons and nerve in place. Under normal conditions, the tendons can slide through the tunnel without any problem and does not affect the nerve, which is known to the median nerve.

Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome

Symptoms are not very specific, especially early in the disease. One of the first signs usually tingling in the thumb, index and middle finger, sometimes even half of the ring finger, which is usually observed for the first time at night. These symptoms are often ignored because they are confused with having the hand asleep. The next level in the chain of symptoms is numbness and increased pain in the fingers and wrist. At this stage, the patient will also notice weakness and loss of control, for example, to pick up small things and drop them.

Causes of carpal tunnel syndrome

The median nerve is one of the three main nerves in the hand, responsible for the feeling and movement of the thumb, index, middle finger and half the ring finger. Like all great nerves, tolerates time pressure, but can not regenerate any injury or damage suffered by compression. There are several causes, such as direct injury, elbow dislocations, compression by tumor, hematoma in the forearm or neck injuries.

Aside from these acute problems, chronic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, they can also damage the nerve. What diagnosis difficult is the fact that a nerve may show symptoms in any area throughout his career, from the backbone to the end of the limb, regardless of the source of the problem.

Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome

Treatment posed by Traumatólogo is usually straightforward, but unfortunately the diagnosis of this disease is regularly lost to misinterpret symptoms. In the early stages, although this could mean years after the first symptoms, local cortisone injections to reduce inflammation or a night splint may be helpful.

If symptoms do not improve or if the disease is already in the advanced stage of pain, numbness and weakness, it is recommended that the carpal tunnel surgery d. This can be done as outpatient surgery under local anesthesia. Under normal circumstances, the pain and numbness stabilize in a few days and the patient can return to normal life after three or four weeks.

If treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome begins in the early stage of the disease, one can achieve complete recovery of nerve. Anyway, even in the later stage, improving symptoms by surgical carpal tunnel release can help in managing daily activities and restore some quality of life.