subject: Carpal Tunnel Symptoms [print this page] Very rarely a patient will be resistant to local anesthetic medicine. If you have trouble getting numb at the dentist's office be sure to tell your surgeon before any type of local anesthetic procedure. The dominant hand is usually affected first and produces the most severe pain. If carpal tunnel is untreated, the muscles at the base of the thumb may be wasted. Some people are unable to tell between hot and cold by touch. Persons with diabetes or other metabolic disorders that directly affect the body's nerves, make them more susceptible. Most people experience numbness, tingling and aching in the hands and wrist. Avoid repetitive movements if at all possible: Many jobs or duties have repeat steps that must be performed by fine muscles, joints and tendons over and over again. If a person is a seamstress, typist, newspaper delivery person or factory worker, there may be no choice but to sew, type, throw and assemble for hours at a time.
The sheath is lined with a lubricating tissue called synovium. This tissue sits between the tunnel wall and the tendon. Trigger finger is caused by inflammation of the synovium, enlargement of the tendon, and thickening or narrowing of the sheath itself, usually in the area of the palm closest to the fingers. Some of the conditions that patients seek help from a hand surgeon for include infections, trigger finger ailments, amputations, nail-bed problems, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, lacerations, soft tissue injuries, broken bones, congenital birth defects and chronic pain.
Some examples of treatments may include surgery, splinting, physical therapy, exercises, and anti-inflammatory medication. Next, when your blood vessels are compressed, you may have vascular TOS. Because the swelling reduces or even cuts off the blood supply to your arm, your hand and arm may become bluish or lose color completely. Additionally, you may notice black spots on your fingers. Your arm may feel heavy, painful, and swollen as blood is trapped in the limb.
There are two main types of TOS as well as one type that is still under debate. If the swelling affects your nerves, it is called neurogenic or neurological TOS. If it affects your blood vessels, it is vascular TOS. If there is no discernable cause yet still pain in that area, it is nonspecific TOS. Although some doctors do not believe that nonspecific TOS is a true condition, others argue that it is very common. Lightly tap over where the median nerve, which is at your wrist. The "positive" response for carpal tunnel syndrome will be a tingling in the thumb, index and middle finer or a sensation of "pins and needles". Constant motion of the hand or wrist keeps fluid pumped into the cyst and it can't get back out. Ganglion cysts can be uncomfortable if they put pressure on nerves, tendons, or skin.
Although the scientist must have thought it was a clever idea at the time, the human wrist was not designed for a computer mouse. Engelbart's first bulky, awkward mouse was crude and wooden; many refined plastic versions have been created since then in the last fifty years. But they all have one common denominator which is a problem: they essentially require the hand or wrist to be twisted or turned into the same basic position.
