Carpal Tunnel syndrome is a medical condition where you feel numbness and a tingling sensation, in your hand which is caused by a compressed nerve called median nerve in your wrist. This median nerve controls the movement of all your fingers barring the little finger. The median nerve and many other tendons run from a person’s forearm to his or her hand through a small space in the wrist. This small space is referred to as the Carpal Tunnel.

There is no specific cause for this condition, but there are many common risk factors and causes that contribute to the numbness and the median nerve damage.

In this article, you will learn about some of the most common symptoms and causes of Carpal Tunnel syndrome.

Symptoms and causes of Carpal Tunnel syndrome:

• Though you cannot pinpoint one single cause of this syndrome, there are many symptoms and causes of Carpal Tunnel syndrome that contribute to the condition.
• A thing to note is that whenever the median nerve is subjected to an excess amount of pressure, the Carpal Tunnel syndrome is caused.
• Not just that, any swelling that makes the Carpal Tunnel smaller will create a case of this syndrome.
• This means that even something like a wrist fracture can narrow the tunnel and cause an inflammation or swelling of the median nerve leading to the syndrome.
• Diseases like diabetes, hypothyroidism and rheumatoid arthritis can increase the risk of having a case of Carpal Tunnel syndrome.
• An inflammation of your wrist nerve or tendon from repeatedly doing the same hand or wrist movement can also cause a situation of Carpal Tunnel syndrome.
• Pregnancy, obesity, and trauma might also aggravate the median nerve damage further and lead to this syndrome.
• Remember that this syndrome is not caused by any one major factor and is rather a result of a collection of things gone wrong.

How to identify a case of Carpal Tunnel syndrome?

The symptoms and causes of Carpal Tunnel syndrome are known to develop gradually. You will first feel a numbness or tingling in fingers, and eventually, you will experience this sensation across your palm or your wrist.

• Numbness
You will sense the numbness only for your thumb or some fingers for a short duration. You will notice that after a while if you shake your hand or give your hand a jerk, it will seem to be normal. Eventually, the numbness will stay for longer and will become a constant.

• Tingling sensation
The tingling sensation of the fingers often does not allow patients with this syndrome to sleep well at night. Most of the times, the sensation is active in the night, and the patient is compelled to wake up and shake it off to get relief. The patient might even feel a constant burning sensation around his wrist or palm.

• Shaky hands and weakness
Ever heard of butterfingers? Yes, they are clumsy people who keep dropping stuff and tripping over things. Similarly, when a person suffers from this syndrome, the patient experiences numbness in his or hands and tends to drop items without having any control over the action.

The treatment for Carpal Tunnel syndrome depends on the severity of the symptoms and causes of Carpal Tunnel syndrome. If you observe that the numbness and tingling sensation is persistent, and it is hampering your lifestyle and sleep routine, then it is best to see a doctor immediately.