Common Causes of Carpal Tunnel Pain

Wondering what carpal tunnel pain is? Carpal tunnel pain is a numbing weakness that goes through the hand due to pressure on the median nerve in the wrist. This nerve controls the movement and feeling in the thumb and the first three fingers. The cause of carpal tunnel pain is the pressure on the median nerve that causes the nerve to swell.  There can be a lot of factors why the nerve swells.

One factor may be an illness that contributes to arm pain, swelling in the joints and soft tissues in the arm to reduce blood flow to the hands. The illnesses or conditions that can cause these pains can include obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, diabetes, lupus, and hypothyroidism.

Broken wrist bones dislocated bones that cause new bone growth from the healing of bones or bone spurs takes up room in the carpal tunnel which puts more pressure on the median nerve.

Carpal tunnel pain can also be caused by work-related factors. Work-related factors could include repeated hand and wrist motions.  Repeated motions cause the membranes around the tendons to swell. Other work-related factors that can contribute to pain are forceful or repetitive hand movements, hand-arm vibration, or working for long periods in the same or awkward positions.

If you think you are getting carpal tunnel pain, pay attention to your symptoms. If your hand feels numb or “falls asleep” often, that can be the first sign.  If you have numbness, tingling and pain in strictly your thumb and first three fingers, that can also be a sign of carpal tunnel pain. Other symptoms would include burning pain that travels up your arm, wrist pain that interferes with sleep, or weakness in the muscles of the hand.

Curing carpal tunnel pain can be nonsurgical or surgical depending on the pain and symptoms. Nonsurgical treatment to avoid surgery would include avoiding positions that overextend your wrist, wrist splint that holds your hand in a neutral position during the day or night, pain medication to reduce inflammation, treatment of underlying conditions such as diabetes or arthritis, and steroid injections into your carpal tunnel area to reduce inflammation.

Before you let your body get surgery, you should listen to your body. If you feel pain, chances are there is something wrong. So exercise your wrists but don’t overextend it, make sure they’re comfortable when you’re sleeping, and get help by a physical therapist before you consider surgery.