What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?:

What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) or Median Neuropathy at the Wrist is a medical condition in which the median nerve is compressed at the wrist, leading to pain, paresthesias, and muscle weakness in the forearm and hand.[1]

A form of compressive neuropathy, CTS is more common in women than it is in men, and, though it can occur at any age, has a peak incidence around age 42.[2]

The lifetime risk for CTS is around 10% of the adult population.[3].

Most cases of CTS are idiopathic -- without known cause.

Repetitive activities are often blamed for the development of CTS, along with several other possible causes.

However, the correlation is often unclear.

It is a multi-faceted problem and can therefore be challenging to treat.

Still, there is a multitude of possible treatments, e.g. treating any possible underlying disease or condition, immobilizing braces, physiotherapy, medication, prioritizing hand activities and ergonomics.

Ultimately, carpal tunnel release surgery may be required. Outcomes are generally good.

The condition was first noted in the medical literature in the early 1900s.

History: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome#History

Although the condition was first noted in the medical literature in the early 1900s, the first use of the term \"carpal tunnel syndrome\" was in 1938.[4]

The pathology was identified by physician George Phalen of the Cleveland Clinic after working with a group of patients in the 1950s and 60s.[4]

CTS became widely known to the general public in the 1990s as a result of the significant increase in chronic wrist pain due to the rapid expansion of office jobs.[5]

What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?: www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/carpal_tunne..._tunnel.htm#82213049

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve, which runs from the forearm into the hand, becomes pressed or squeezed at the wrist.

The median nerve controls sensations to the palm side of the thumb and fingers (although not the little finger), as well as impulses to some small muscles in the hand that allow the fingers and thumb to move.

The carpal tunnel - a narrow, rigid passageway of ligament and bones at the base of the hand ¾ houses the median nerve and tendons.

Sometimes, thickening from irritated tendons or other swelling narrows the tunnel and causes the median nerve to be compressed.

The result may be pain, weakness, or numbness in the hand and wrist, radiating up the arm.

Although painful sensations may indicate other conditions, carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common and widely known of the entrapment neuropathies in which the body's peripheral nerves are compressed or traumatized.

What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?: hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/carpal_tunnel.html

The carpal tunnel is a channel in the palm side of the wrist (see diagram below).

The bones of the wrist are arranged in a semi-circle, and a tough ligament called the transverse carpal ligament or flexor retinaculum forms a roof over them, creating a passageway (the carpal tunnel).

Running through the carpal tunnel are the tendons that we use to bend the fingers and wrist, and the median nerve.

This is one of three nerves that connect to the hand.

The median nerve also controls some of the muscles that move the thumb.

About carpal tunnel syndrome: hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/carpal_tunnel.html

About 3 in 100 people develop carpal tunnel syndrome at some point in their life.

Over half of these are women.

While it can develop at any age, the chance of it occurring increases with age.

It is most common in people in their 40s and 50s.

Sometimes carpal tunnel syndrome can be triggered by your job.

It can sometimes be prevented by stopping or reducing the activity that stresses your fingers, hand, or wrist, or by changing the way in which activities are done.

What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?: www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068696

There are eight small bones called carpal bones in the wrist.

A ligament (also called retinaculum) lies across the front of the wrist.

Between this ligament and the carpal bones is a space called the carpal tunnel.

The tendons that attach the forearm muscles to the fingers pass through the carpal tunnel.

A main nerve to the hand (median nerve) also goes through this tunnel before dividing into smaller branches in the palm.

The median nerve gives feeling to the thumb, index and middle fingers, and half of the ring finger.

It also controls the movement to the small muscles at the base of the thumb.

What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?: www.medinfo.co.uk/conditions/carpaltunnel.html

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition where pressure on a nerve (the Median Nerve), where it passes through the wrist into the hand, causes pain, pins and needles, weakness and numbness in the hand.

What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?: www.arthritis.ca/types%20of%20arthritis/...D4-BCC5-00D0B7474671 }

*Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition in which the median (pronounced mee-dee-an) nerve becomes compressed.

*The median nerve is the nerve that travels down the arm into the hand. With carpal tunnel syndrome the nerve is squeezed as it passes through the narrow path (or tunnel) at the wrist.

*The pressure on the wrist can cause the fingers and thumb to feel tingly and numb. They may feel paralysed, or unable to move.

The median nerve is a large nerve that travels down the centre of the forearm to the skin of the thumb, the index finger, the long middle finger and half of the third, or ring, finger.

It also supplies sensation to the muscles of the base of the thumb.

To enter the hand the median nerve must pass through the narrow opening at the wrist joint.

On one side of the wrist joint are bones, and on the other is a strong ligament that runs across the wrist.

The ligament and the bones form a firm channel that has little ability to expand.

Therefore, if this ‘tunnel’ becomes swollen or narrowed any resulting pressure is applied within.

Several tendons also pass through this tunnel but it is the median nerve, being the most sensitive nerve in the area, that is most prone to damage from this type of pressure.

If any nerve in the body is bumped or has sustained pressure applied to it, this can cause sensory changes such as tingling or numbness.

For example, bumping the 'funny bone' at the elbow can cause tingling or numbness in the fingers.

When pressure is applied to a nerve for a long period this can cause loss of 'motor power' that the nerve supplies to the muscle.

For example, if a person sits in an uncomfortable position for a long period of time this can put pressure on the nerves in the legs, causing them to ‘go to sleep’ and feel temporarily paralysed.

This same phenomenon occurs with carpal tunnel syndrome, except that with carpal tunnel syndrome the pressure is more constant and ongoing and the resulting symptoms more sustained.