If you have CTS, you should feel tingling or increasing numbness in your fingers within 1 minute. The Phalen, or wrist-flexion, test involves having you hold your forearms upright by pointing the fingers down and pressing the backs of the hands together.The test is positive when tingling in the fingers or a resultant shock-like sensation occurs. In the Tinel test, the doctor taps on or presses on the median nerve in your wrist.Specific wrist tests may produce the symptoms of CTS.Routine laboratory tests and X-rays can reveal fractures, arthritis, and nerve-damaging diseases such as diabetes.Your fingers will be tested for sensation, along with muscles at the base of the hand for strength and signs of atrophy. Your wrist will be checked for tenderness, swelling, warmth, and discoloration. Your doctor will examine your hands, arms, shoulders, and neck to determine if your complaints are related to daily activities or to an underlying disorder and to rule out other conditions that mimic carpal tunnel syndrome. How is carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosed and treated?Įarly diagnosis and treatment are important to avoid permanent damage to the median nerve. Many people who have CTS report never have working at these types of jobs. The risk of developing CTS is not confined to people in a single industry or job but may be more reported in those performing assembly line work-such as manufacturing, sewing, finishing, cleaning, and meatpacking-than it is among data-entry personnel. Increasing age-CTS usually occurs only in adults.Having diabetes or other metabolic disorders that directly affect the body's nerves and make them more susceptible to compression.Sex-women are three times more likely than men to develop CTS.Development of a cyst or tumor in the canal.Fluid retention during pregnancy or menopause.Rheumatoid arthritis or other arthritic diseases.Imbalance of either the pituitary gland or the thyroid gland.Trauma or injury to the wrist that cause swelling, such as sprain or fracture.Sometimes no single cause can be identified. Who is more likely to get carpal tunnel syndrome?Ĭarpal tunnel syndrome is often the result of a combination of factors that increase pressure on the median nerve and tendons in the carpal tunnel, rather than a problem with the nerve itself. Some people with very severe CTS cannot determine between hot and cold by touch and may burn their fingertips without knowing it. In chronic and/or untreated cases, the muscles at the base of the thumb may shrink and waste away. Hand weakness may make it difficult to grasp small objects or perform other manual tasks. Mild to severe pain, sometimes worse at night.Tingling during the day, especially with certain activities such as talking on the phone, reading a book or newspaper, or driving.A tingling sensation or pain in the fingers.
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