Clear answers about carpal tunnel syndrome

You notice tingling, even numbness, in your hand and wrist, which makes you want to shake it out. Then a shooting pain hits that runs from your wrist right up your arm. The chances are you have carpal tunnel syndrome, known as CTS for short. Here's more information to help you better understand the ailment.

On the palm side of your wrist is a narrow passageway, the carpal tunnel, surrounded by bones and ligaments. This passageway houses one of the main nerves in your hands and fingers.  CTS happens when there is a swelling of the lining of the tendons in the carpal tunnel. When that happens, the passageway narrows, compressing the nerve. Here are some common causes:

• Bone spurs
• Health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis
• Hormone fluctuations
• Fluid retention
• Abnormal protein deposits
• Repetitive Strain: Moving your wrist repetitively doing the same task, whether it's typing on a computer or working on a factory assembly line, can also set you up for the syndrome.

Your doctor will examine your hands, arms, shoulders, and neck, testing them for feeling and strength to determine whether the pain is from a repetitive injury or another condition. He may also do a nerve conduction study, passing a current through surface electrodes to determine if the electrical impulse in the carpal tunnel has slowed.

Your doctor can help you relieve the pain with medications, or splints. You can also relieve your symptoms with over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, rest, and stretching. When simpler steps don't work and you have severe pain that lasts for more than six months, your doctor may suggest surgery, especially if the muscles begin to atrophy.

CTS can affect both the sensory and motor parts of the nerve. Reducing the inflammation will help reduce the pain.