What is carpal tunnel syndrome?
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition causing pain, numbness, and occasional pins-and-needles feelings in your wrist, hand, and arm. This condition develops when the biggest nerve going into your hand, the median nerve, gets compressed within the carpal tunnel, the small opening around the base of your hand.
What causes carpal tunnel syndrome?
While the simple explanation is that pressure on your median nerve triggers carpal tunnel syndrome, the reason for that pressure can be more difficult to identify. Potential causes include:
- Wrist fractures
- Wrist swelling related to arthritis
- Having a naturally small carpal tunnel
- Nerve damage caused by diabetes or other chronic illness
- Fluid retention
- Wrist overuse
Sometimes, it's just one factor, while in other cases you may have multiple contributing factors. It's helpful to know the cause of your carpal tunnel because you can make adjustments to avoid it, but you don't need a clear-cut cause of carpal tunnel to benefit from physical medicine and rehabilitation treatment.
The team at The Rehab Doctors can perform nerve conduction and electromyography (EMG) testing to diagnose carpal tunnel syndrome.
How does physical medicine and rehabilitation treat carpal tunnel syndrome?
The team uses a variety of approaches to help you gain full pain-free wrist, hand, and arm movement after a carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosis. They can determine whether you have any nerve damage and look for other contributing causes of carpal tunnel syndrome to ideally tailor your treatment. Some of the many possible treatments may include:
- Medications for carpal tunnel flare-ups
- Injections to reduce swelling, inflammation, and pain
- Assistive devices (e.g., a wrist brace)
- Moist heat therapy
- Cryotherapy (cold therapy)
- Biofeedback
- Electrotherapy
- Prescribed exercises to strengthen your wrist, hand, and arm
The team understands how irritating and even disabling carpal tunnel syndrome can really be, so they work closely with you to restore function and help you get back to your normal life. In addition to your customized treatments, the team may recommend making some simple lifestyle changes like using a different type of computer mouse, improving your posture, and taking regular breaks to rest your hands.
Call The Rehab Doctors or click the online appointment maker to get customized carpal tunnel syndrome pain relief without giving in to painful surgery.
