{"id":24393,"date":"2025-07-12T11:43:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T08:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utkuerdemozer.com\/carpal-tunnel-syndrome\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T20:59:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T17:59:24","slug":"carpal-tunnel-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.utkuerdemozer.com\/en\/carpal-tunnel-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Carpal Tunnel Syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\ud83d\udccb Quick Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common nerve compression in the body. It develops when the median nerve is compressed<\/strong> inside the narrow canal at the wrist, producing numbness, tingling and pain that worsens at night in the thumb, index and middle fingers. We always start with non-surgical treatment<\/strong>: a night splint, correcting wrist position, nerve and tendon gliding exercises and, when needed, an ultrasound-guided cortisone injection. Surgery comes into play when these measures are not enough or when wasting of the thumb muscles (thenar atrophy) has begun. I prepared this guide around the questions my patients ask most often during their visits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Are you one of those people who wakes up in the middle of the night with a numb hand and shakes it over the side of the bed to get relief? Patients describe it very clearly in the exam room: “I wake up from sleep, my hand feels dead, and when I shake it, it slowly comes back to life.”<\/em> This is the most classic sign of carpal tunnel syndrome. The good news is this: when addressed at the right time, this picture can most often be brought under control with non-surgical methods. In this article, I explain step by step what carpal tunnel syndrome is, its symptoms, its stages, how it is distinguished from conditions it resembles, and the treatment options.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Condition<\/td>\nCarpal tunnel syndrome (median nerve compression)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
What is it, briefly?<\/td>\nNumbness, tingling and pain that worsens at night in the hand, caused by compression of the median nerve inside the narrow canal at the wrist<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Typical symptom<\/td>\nNumbness in the thumb, index and middle fingers that wakes you from sleep; temporary relief when you shake the hand<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Who gets it most often?<\/td>\nMore common in women aged 40\u201370; people who use their hands intensively, patients with diabetes or thyroid disease, and pregnant women<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Diagnosis<\/td>\nPhysical examination (Tinel and Phalen tests) + EMG to grade the severity of the compression<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Non-surgical treatment<\/td>\nNight splint, wrist positioning, nerve\/tendon gliding exercises, ultrasound-guided cortisone injection<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
When is surgery needed?<\/td>\nWhen non-surgical methods fall short, when EMG shows progressing damage, or when there is wasting of the thumb muscles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
If left untreated<\/td>\nPermanent loss of sensation, wasting of the thumb muscles, and lasting reduction in grip strength and hand dexterity<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?<\/h2>\n

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition that arises when the median nerve<\/strong>, one of the three main nerves of the hand, is compressed within the narrow canal at the level of the wrist known as the carpal tunnel<\/strong>. As the nerve becomes compressed, numbness, tingling and pain appear in the thumb, index finger, middle finger and the thumb-side half of the ring finger. This is the most common nerve compression in the human body<\/strong>; carpal tunnel surgery is also one of the most frequently performed hand operations in the world.<\/p>\n

The pressure inside the carpal tunnel is around 2\u201310 mmHg in a healthy wrist, but in a wrist with the syndrome this value can rise to as much as ten times higher<\/strong>. In other words, the problem is essentially a “pressure” problem: as the pressure inside the tunnel increases, the most delicate structure \u2014 the median nerve \u2014 begins to be damaged.<\/p>\n

What Is the Carpal Tunnel?<\/h3>\n

The carpal tunnel is a narrow canal on the palm side of the wrist, whose floor and sides are formed by the wrist bones (carpal bones) and whose roof is closed off by a strong ligament called the transverse carpal ligament. Nine tendons<\/strong> that bend the fingers and the median nerve<\/strong> pass through this tunnel. Because the tunnel is a space limited by bone, any swelling or space-occupying condition inside it causes the pressure to rise quickly, and the softest structure \u2014 the nerve \u2014 bears the brunt of the pressure.<\/p>\n

What Is the Median Nerve?<\/h3>\n

The median nerve is an important nerve that originates from the neck, travels down the arm and passes through the wrist, carrying both sensory<\/strong> function (to the thumb, index and middle fingers and half of the ring finger) and motor<\/strong> function (to the thenar muscles that move the thumb toward the palm) in the hand. In carpal tunnel syndrome, compression of this nerve at the wrist level leads to both loss of sensation in the fingers and, at later stages, loss of strength in the thumb muscles.<\/p>\n

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What Causes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?<\/h2>\n

In the great majority of patients, no single clear cause can be found; this is called idiopathic<\/strong>. However, certain conditions that increase the pressure inside the tunnel or make the nerve more prone to damage are known:<\/p>\n