Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition that affects the median nerve as it passes through the carpal tunnel in your wrist. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome can include numbness, tingling, and pain in the thumb area of one or both of your hands. Carpal tunnel syndrome can lead to weakness and an inability to perform everyday tasks such as typing or shaking someone’s hand. If left untreated, the disorder could cause permanent damage to your nerves and muscles, which would make performing these activities seem impossible.
What Exactly is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Carpal tunnel syndrome is an entrapment neuropathy, which means that one of the nerves in your body, in this case, the median nerve, has become trapped or compressed. The median nerve runs through your wrist and provides feeling to parts of your hand like your thumb, pointer finger, middle finger, and part of your palm.
So, who Is most at risk for developing carpal tunnel? Women are three times as likely to develop carpal tunnel than men. Likewise, those with diabetes or other metabolic disorders are also more susceptible to getting carpal tunnel syndrome.
Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Numbness and tingling in the thumb, pointer finger, middle finger, or half of your palm
- Sharp pain in your hands, wrist, or forearms
- Weakness in your hands or wrists
- Sensation of pins and needles
- Hand clumsiness
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s important to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Read more about symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome here.
Can You Prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
There is no surefire way for you to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome from happening. However, there are some things you can do to avoid it, such as:
- Avoiding repetitive motions that put excess pressure on your wrist and hands (typing, texting for extended periods of time).
- Make sure to exercise regularly and stretch your wrist and hand muscles often to increase blood flow to your hand.
- Eat a diet rich in vitamin B to help your body metabolize fat and protein efficiently.
Ways to Treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
The first line of defense for treating carpal tunnel syndrome would be to take anti-inflammatory medication to reduce pain. You can also try wearing a wrist brace to reduce pressure and stress on the median nerve. Wearing a brace will give your wrists a break and allow your muscles to relax.
Using ice on areas you are experiencing pain can help reduce inflammation and dull any painful sensations. Unfortunately, these treatment options may only provide you with short-term relief. Thankfully, Comprehensive Medical Care offers a micro-invasive carpal tunnel release treatment. This treatment allows you to recover with significantly less downtime than traditional carpal tunnel surgeries. Not only will this treatment enable you to recover in just a matter of days, but it also is done without all the painful scars that can occur when undergoing traditional carpal tunnel surgeries.
How the Micro-Invasive Treatment Works
Comprehensive Medical Care uses an Sx-one micro knife and ultrasound guidance to create space within the carpal tunnel to be able to cut across the transverse carpal ligament, providing you with fast relief.
Our micro-invasive treatment process is relatively easy. Comprehensive Medical Care first begins with thorough testing to make sure you are a good fit for treatment. Next, we’ll go over your test results, treatment options and answer any questions you may have along the way. Lastly, we can begin micro-invasive treatment that will have feeling relief in no time!
Schedule a Free Consultation Today
If carpal tunnel is affecting your everyday life, then Comprehensive Medical Care is the place for you. With over 15 years of experience in ultrasound-guided, minimally invasive procedures, Dr. Gerald M. Vernon is one of only 3-4 physicians in the state of new jersey to provide this procedure. For a free consultation, click here! or Call us at 732-507-9538
