Tell me about your carpal tunnel syndrome...

In My Humble Opinion
1

I woke up this morning and my right thumb, index finger, and middle finger all were numb and tingly at the tips (my right ring finger had just a touch of it as well). Three-plus hours later, my ring finger is okay, but the other three still feel anaesthetized. I can still feel textures, etc., through the tingle—it’s like the tactile equivalent of listening to a radio station with a lot of static in the signal.

I know this is a clear sign of carpal tunnel syndrome. I’m a writer/editor by trade, and I spend a lot of time typing, so I need to know what I’m in for here. If you suffer from CTS, can you share your personal experiences with it? Some of the things I’m wondering:
[ul]
[li]Did you just wake up with it one day, or were there warning signs and a gradual development of symptoms?[/li][li]Does it actually inhibit functioning, or is it just a tingly annoyance?[/li][li]Is it more usual for symptoms to appear in both hands, or is this single-handed occurrence common?[/li][li]The first time you developed symptoms, did they go away for a while and come back later, or is it more of a “once you have it, you have it forever” thing?[/li][li]How quickly did your CTS progress – did it worsen noticeably, and if so how quickly? Or has it stayed the same, pretty much?[/li][li]What do you personally do as a treatment or as a coping regimen? Does it really help, or just keep things from getting worse?[/li][/ul]
I appreciate your input. I’m a little freaked out by this, and I’m hoping for some reassuring news, but knowing the worst would be helpful too.

2

If it hit you out of the blue, it may not be CTS. You may have injured it some other way, such as being on the phone for an extended length of time and not moving your arm. I worked a call center as a summer job once and got those exact symptoms from holding the receiver all day. It went away over a few weeks after I quit.

To check for CTS, turn your arm palm up like you were receiving change. bend the wrist so that the fingers point toward the floor. With the first and middle fingers of your other hand, firmly tap the middle of the wrist just below where it connects to the hand. If you get a shooting sensation like a mild version of hitting your funnybone, it’s CTS, if not, probably not.

As to my CTS:

[li]Did you just wake up with it one day, or were there warning signs and a gradual development of symptoms?[/li]
It was gradual. The base of my thumb keep getting a deep muscle burn-type sensation that got progressively worse.

[li]Does it actually inhibit functioning, or is it just a tingly annoyance?[/li]
Both. There’s a bit of weakness associated with it, but mostly it’s just wanting to do less because of the pain.

[li]Is it more usual for symptoms to appear in both hands, or is this single-handed occurrence common?[/li]
Both is pretty common, but one is usually worse - normally the dominant hand for obvious reasons.

[li]The first time you developed symptoms, did they go away for a while and come back later, or is it more of a “once you have it, you have it forever” thing?[/li]
I don’t recall if it got steadily worse or if it lapsed and restarted.

[li]How quickly did your CTS progress – did it worsen noticeably, and if so how quickly? Or has it stayed the same, pretty much?[/li]
Over the course of about six months until I finally went to my doc.

[li]What do you personally do as a treatment or as a coping regimen? Does it really help, or just keep things from getting worse?[/li]
Surgery has come a long way, but I haven’t gone that route yet. I sleep in braces that the doc prescribed. They have a metal bar inside to keep my hands in the correct position. I also use a soft wrap-style brace on the right hand when I’m driving (long commute). I also use an ergo keyboard and mousepad.

That keeps it in check, but if I skip the braces or over-use my hands for a couple of days in a row, like extensive chopping projects in the kitchen all weekend, they’ll still hurt the next day. Not as badly as before, though.

Good luck. I hope some of this is useful.

3

Don’t have CTS now, but had it in the past and had surgery to fix it.

Did you just wake up with it one day, or were there warning signs and a gradual development of symptoms?

No warning signs. First I knew about it was when my hand went dead while decorating. After that further symptoms developed quite rapidly, including the classic of waking up with sensations as you described.

Does it actually inhibit functioning, or is it just a tingly annoyance?

It did both. On a good day, it was just tingly annoyance with the odd static shock sensation in the fingertips. On a normal day, it was that along with very noticable hand weakness and lack of dexterity. On a bad day, it felt like I had a broken hand.

Is it more usual for symptoms to appear in both hands, or is this single-handed occurrence common?

I don’t know. I only really had proper symptoms in the right hand, but switching to using the left to compensate made that hand start aching.

The first time you developed symptoms, did they go away for a while and come back later, or is it more of a “once you have it, you have it forever” thing?

In my case the most that would happen is that symptoms would sometimes lessen if the hand was well rested. Overall though the symptoms progressively got worse until I had the surgery.

How quickly did your CTS progress – did it worsen noticeably, and if so how quickly? Or has it stayed the same, pretty much?

Within about six months the hand was well messed up.

What do you personally do as a treatment or as a coping regimen? Does it really help, or just keep things from getting worse?

I found compression, a wrist splint and ice packs helped cope. Surgery was the only thing that helped longterm.

4

I was diagnosed with CTS about a year ago. I was waking up with both arms completely numb (pins and needles.) They first gave me an MRI on my neck which came back negative. Then I tested positive for CTS. They had me try the same style wrist braces FallenAngel mentioned and it literally went away in about a week. I realized that I often slept with my wrists bent against my body. After wearing the braces a few months when I slept I got out of the habit and no longer use them or have symptoms. You can get those type braces at most big pharmacies (CVS, Rite-Aid etc.) off the shelf.

5

I’m a computer hobbyist and professional, so it isn’t unusual to log 16+ hours in a day at the keyboard. However, treat this as the single-data-point anecdotal experience it is…

In my late 20’s, I started getting progressive CTS symptoms…sharp pains in wrist, numbness in fingers, tingling in wrist and back of hands. The onset was quite fast, proceeding from slight discomfort to “oh crap, this hurts, I’m calling in sick today” over about 2 months.

Around the time things were getting highly painful, I had joined a kung fu class as a way to keep in shape while recovering from a bad ankle sprain (kung fu was much lower impact than the soccer I had been playing). We regularly performed many hand/wrist strengthening drills and techniques in class (tiger claw --> fist --> knife hand --> iron needle --> back to tiger claw --> etc). Over the next few months, my CTS pains gradually went away and 10 years later have only returned when I’ve stopped regularly wrist exercises and conditioning. I can log full days at the keyboard now with no fatigue or symptoms.

I firmly believe that the particular exercises (very varied range of motions, non-repetetive) that I started before permanent CTS damage had set in are responsible to my getting better.

That said, I’m not pushing a miracle-cure agenda, but seriously look into Karate, Tai Chi, kung fu, or other activities with regular and varied exercise of the hands/wrists.

6

Dont be too quick to think you have carpal tunnel without having all the proper tests first.

I had the same exact symptoms that you indicated, and showed signs as FallenAngel pointed out - but the nerve test came back within the “normal range” (which just means it’s somewhere between no indication of slowing to just not bad enough to justify surgery). I switched over to a hand specialist who conducted another test to see if there were tears by inecting dye into my hand. I had several tears in my tendons and a few other mishaps. Basically, I was diagnosed with “Blackberry thumb” aka “Nintendo Thumb” aka “Ipod Thumb”

I’m glad I didnt settle with the “do exercises and wear a splint at night” (which does help, btw) and got another opinion.