Symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disorder caused by the compression of the median nerve in the wrist.
This carpal tunnel contains a rigid structure made of carpal bones and ligaments.
Besides the median nerve there are 9 other tendons that pass through the carpal tunnel. They connect the muscles of the forearm to the fingers.
The nerve compression leads to symptoms such as tingling, numbness and pain located on a specific area, between the thumb and the fourth finger.
What is actually happening with a nerve under pressure?
A nerve under pressure will get into ischemia, suffer a demyelination and eventually will become fibrotic.
All these will result in the slowing down and finally stopping the conduction of the electric impulse throughout the nerve.
Most often both hands are affected.
In conclusion we can say the following:
Tingling and numbness in the first four fingers of the hand are specific symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome and this should be an alarming sign
The most efficient treatment is surgery - releasing the nerve by sectioning the flexor retinaculum.
Recovery is relatively fast and depends on the stage of the disease
In early stages the recovery is immediate.

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