Tratamiento de Síndrome del Túnel Carpiano - FisioClinics Palma

The repetition of hand movements is associated with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, at FisioClinics Palma de Mallorca we have qualified physiotherapists and osteopaths to resolve the origin of this syndrome. If you are presenting numbness and the presence of tingling in your hands, it is likely that you have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, learn more about this syndrome below.

What is carpal tunnel syndrome?

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a disease that causes symptoms such as numbness and pain in the hands as a result of a median nerve disorder that plays an important role in fingertip sensation and hand movement.

The median nerve, along with nine tendons that move the fingers, pass through a narrow tube called the carpal tunnel, located in the wrist. The cause of the disease is that the tendon band that corresponds to the roof of the carpal tunnel thickens or there is an inflammation that compresses the median nerve.

People who use their hands frequently in everyday life and work tend to be more affected by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Rheumatoid arthritis, hemodialysis, hand fracture, pregnancy among others can also be causal factors.

What are the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome?

The characteristic symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome are:

• Tingling in the palm of the hand and fingers.       

• Progressive numbness.       

• Sensation of electric shock at the end of the first three or four fingers of the hand, or sometimes rising towards the forearm.       

• Numbness and tingling may be present at night and kept at rest.       

• Loss of sensitivity of the fingers (thumb, index, middle, essentially) that can become definitive.       

• In chronic cases, the thumb muscles can also atrophy.       

What Causes Median Nerve Compression?

The compression of the Median Nerve caused by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be caused by several factors of different origin, whether due to Sports, mechanical causes and pathological causes, being as follows:

• Sports: all sports that require a strong grip on an accessory and that require concentration, speed of execution, and vibration absorption, such as: golf, tennis, weightlifting, baseball, cycling, adapted sport wheelchair.       

• Mechanical causes: chronic tendonitis due to repetition of the gesture causes a musculoskeletal disorder due to excessive use of the wrist joint or repetitive movements during certain jobs such as with the computer keyboard.         

• Pathological causes: diabetes, pregnancy, menopause, hypothyroidism, neurological degeneration among other rheumatic diseases.       

It should be noted that women are more affected than men, it is also bilateral.

How is the medical diagnosis made in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

To diagnose Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, it is necessary to carry out tests in which tendinitis, a compressive neurological syndrome or sports trauma are ruled out, the tests that serve for its diagnosis are:

• Tinel's sign: This test consists of striking the median nerve to check if the subject feels tingling (paresthesia) that extends along the arm and up to the fingers.       

• Phalen's sign: The patient places their hands back to back and the extension of the hand and wrist is forced for one minute. The sign is positive if there is a sensation of paresthesia in the fingers, confirming compression of the median nerve.       

• Electromyogram: The test allows calculating the speed of conduction of electrical current between two points of the median nerve located on each side of the carpal tunnel. The further away from normal values, the more advanced the syndrome is.