I’m not sure weight lifting and losing weight will have any effect. Go see a doctor if it’s scaring you.
I had similar symptoms when I worked a job that required me to spend an hour or so each day using an electric orange squeezer. Somehow, the rotating juicer’s vibrations caused my hands to unexpectedly tingle during the day. As soon as I stopped that job, the tingling stopped, so I’m guessing it’s somehow carpal tunnel-related.
As for not using the computer a lot to get carpal tunnel, you really don’t have to use it all that often. About once every two years or so, my hand completely gives out from using the computer mouse. It’s so painful that I can’t even right-click. Then it goes away and seems not to happen again. The last time this happened I was on the computer maybe an hour a day.
Tingling can also be a sign of pinched nerves or slipped discs, as Pullet mentioned. Just go see a doctor. They don’t bite.
I would say definately no to weightlifting until you have been checked out. My nerve problems would have been easily dealt with had I not waited so long to get to a doctor. By the time I did make it in, I had not only carpal tunnel but also cubital tunnel syndrome (also known as tennis elbow). I was out of work for five months, had a cast on my right arm for eight weeks, and might have avoided all of this if I had just sought treatment early. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it takes hours and hours of typing or the like to develop the problem…nerve damage is tricky, and can develop suddenly or slowly. Sometimes the solution can be as simple as cortizone injections and wrist splints. See the doctor before you make yourself worse…trust me on this.
A woman I know had pain, numbness and tingling in her right hand for years following a car accident. Medical physicians had her on the max dose of amitryptiline, an anti-depressant with a slight analgesic effect, for three straight years. (Guidelines suggest the max dose should not be given for more than six months. And one of the side effects of this drug, by the way, is…numbness and tingling in the extremities. They told her to just live with it.) She told me this story the day we met, I adjusted her cervical spine twice the following week, and the symptoms disappeared for good. She was so grateful she married me. She’s been off the drug for 15 years now.
Naysayers will disagree, but still it makes logical sense to give non-invasive manipulative therapy such as chiropractic care or physical therapy a real honest try before allowing anyone wielding a knife to slice into your spine or wrists. These surgeries seldom produce the quality of results expected by the patient, leave behind internal scar tissue which attaches to and irritates nerve fibers, carry many of their own risks for lifelong complications, and are rarely medically necessary. In contrast, a reputable, skilled manipulative therapist is highly unlikely to make the situation worse. Millions of people who have been advised to have surgery for their herniated disks and other nerve interference problems have instead achieved complete, lasting relief with chiropractic care. (In fact, this is the main reason chiropractic physicians are still around in the face of decades of withering attacks from the AMA, the uninformed general public and the chiropractic profession’s own extremely poor marketing & PR strategies.) It’s at least worth a try, anyway. If you’re going to find relief it should certainly start to make itself known within a short time, say, maybe 8-12 visits or so. When you do go to a medical doctor for a second opinion, which is highly recommended, make sure you go to a neurologist rather than an orthopedic surgeon. Your chiropractic physician should have a solid working relationship with some reputable neurologists. And remember that many nerve problems do not show up on x-ray, since nerves are soft tissue.
I’ve got a triple whammy. I’ve got CTS, thoracic outlet syndrome, and cervical problems that lead to a propensity to pinched nerves.
My doc sent me to a neurologist, who sent me to a neurosurgeon, physical medicine and rehab guy for further testing, and a radiologist for MRI.
I ended up in physical therapy for massage, heat, and ultrasound to my neck and upper back, and exercises for everything else. The heat makes a world of difference for me because it relaxes the muscles and opens the nerve spaces a bit more. My neuro also warned me off chiropractic because if my neck pops the wrong way, I could be looking at worse problems.