Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: treatments and outcome

Dear Ask The Doctor: Could carpal tunnel becme debilating? Im suffering with extreme pain in my first two fingers on my right hand and numbness.

Dear Michelle: The Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is an entrapment of the median nerve within the carpal tunnel at the level of the wrist. The usual symptoms include numbness, tingling, and pain in the wrist and hand, basically the nerve gets irritated by the constant compression and with the time if not treated the nerve suffer damage and the described symptoms tend to worsen. The conservative treatment includes first of all a work-site ergonomic assessment may help to reduce potentially exacerbating factors, in your case you should use an ergonomic keyboard and modify all the postures or activities that reproduce the pain. The use of a wrist-hand brace that sets the wrist joint in neutral position (to be worn at nighttime for a minimum of 3-4 weeks) many off-the-shelf wrist splints seem to work well. A specific stretching/strengthening program for the hand and wrist may be useful in improving strength and dexterity. The use of anti inflammatory medications (i.e.: “Aleve”) may be of benefit to control de pain. Lack of aerobic exercise (along with increased Body Mass Index) is a risk factor for the development of CTS and should be addressed. Overuse of legal drugs (e.g., caffeine, nicotine, alcohol) can contribute to CTS and should therefore be reduced. Most individuals with mild-to-moderate carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) respond to conservative treatment, the local corticosteroid injection may be considered in those cases that show poor improvement with the conservative treatment (although injection rarely is used in practice).