Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition that causes numbness, tingling, and other symptoms in the hand and arm. Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by a compressed nerve in the carpal tunnel, a narrow passageway on the palm side of your wrist. The anatomy of your wrist, health problems and possibly repetitive hand motions can contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome.

Proper treatment usually relieves the tingling and numbness and restores wrist and hand function.

  • Symptoms

    Carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms usually start gradually. The first symptoms often include numbness or tingling in your thumb, index and middle fingers that comes and goes. Carpal tunnel syndrome may also cause discomfort in your wrist and the palm of your hand. Common carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms include:

    • Tingling or numbness. You may experience tingling and numbness in your fingers or hand. Usually the thumb and index, middle or ring fingers are affected, but not your little finger. Sometimes there is a sensation like an electric shock in these fingers. The sensation may travel from your wrist up to your arm. These symptoms often occur while holding a steering wheel, phone or newspaper. The sensation may wake you from sleep.
    • Many people “shake out” their hands to try to relieve their symptoms. The numb feeling may become constant over time.
    • Weakness. You may experience weakness in your hand and a tendency to drop objects. This may be due to the numbness in your hand or weakness of the thumb’s pinching muscles, which are also controlled by the median nerve.
  • Treatment

    Treat carpal tunnel syndrome as early as possible after symptoms start. Take more frequent breaks to rest your hands. Avoiding activities that worsen symptoms and applying cold packs to reduce swelling also may help.

    Other treatment options include wrist splinting, medications and surgery. Splinting and other conservative treatments are more likely to help if you’ve had only mild to moderate symptoms for less than 10 months.

    Nonsurgical therapy
    If the condition is diagnosed early, nonsurgical methods may help improve carpal tunnel syndrome, including:

    • Wrist splinting. A splint that holds your wrist still while you sleep can help relieve night-time symptoms of tingling and numbness. Nighttime splinting may be a good option if you’re pregnant.
    • Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others), may help relieve pain from carpal tunnel syndrome in the short term.
    • Corticosteroids. Your doctor may inject your carpal tunnel with a corticosteroid such as cortisone to relieve pain. Sometimes your doctor uses an ultrasound to guide these injections.
    • Corticosteroids decrease inflammation and swelling, which relieves pressure on the median nerve. Oral corticosteroids aren’t considered as effective as corticosteroid injections for treating carpal tunnel syndrome.
  • Surgery

    Surgery may be appropriate if your symptoms are severe or don’t respond to other treatments. The goal of carpal tunnel surgery is to relieve pressure by cutting the ligament pressing on the median nerve.

    The surgery may be performed with two different techniques:

    • Endoscopic surgery. Your surgeon uses a telescope-like device with a tiny camera attached to it (endoscope) to see inside your carpal tunnel. Your surgeon cuts the ligament through one or two small incisions in your hand or wrist. Endoscopic surgery may result in less pain than does open surgery in the first few days or weeks after surgery.
    • Open surgery. Your surgeon makes an incision in the palm of your hand over the carpal tunnel and cuts through the ligament to free the nerve.