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The word Carpal has been derived from
the Greek word Karpos meaning of which
is wrist. The wrist is a joint between
forearm and the hand. It is surrounded by
a fibrous tissue band that supports the
joint to function normally. There is a
tight space found between the wrist bone
and this band of fibrous tissue which is
called the carpal tunnel. The median nerve
that is responsible for receiving
sensations from the three fingers of the
hand - thumb, index and middle fingers ,
passes through this carpal tunnel. Hence,
whenever any swelling or irritation occurs
in the tissue within carpal tunnel the
median nerve gets interrupted. The median
nerve becomes irritated as a result of
which the three fingers connected with it
experience tingling sensation and
numbness. This condition has been defined
clinically as the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
There has been no specific reason found so
far as the cause of this syndrome.
However, it is found that most of the
patients suffer from this condition
whenever an extreme pressure is felt on
the median nerve of the wrist. Also there
are certain common conditions which are
known as the causes of this syndrome. The
list of these conditions include
hypothyroidism, pregnancy, obesity,
various sorts of trauma, diabetes etc.
Additionally, when some abnormal
substances get deposited inside or around
the carpal tunnel due to some rare
diseases like Multiple Myeloma,
Sarcoidosis, Leukemia, Amyloidosis, it
causes irritation to the median nerve at
the wrist joint.
At the very initial stage of this
irritation patients experience numbness
and tingling sensation in the hand and
that too especially at night. Fingers that
are associated with the median nerve are
likely to get the tingling followed by
burning sensation and cramps that tend to
make the wrists too weak to get hold of an
object. During the night time the
condition aggravates due to fluid
accumulation around the hand and wrist
while sleeping or lying on the bed. Some
patients suffering from this syndrome also
complaint about occasional shooting pain
in the forearm. On the other hand those
who are chronic patients of this syndrome
can also experience atrophy of hand
muscles of the thumb and in or around the
hand palms.
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