Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Health Video

Carpal tunnel syndrome is often linked to repetitive motion and is diagnosed by pains in the wrist and forearm. Learn about carpal tunnel syndrome in this video.

Take Action

Use conservative treatments
Take anti-inflammatory drugs
Wear a splint for sleep
Extend and keep wrists straight
Contact a doctor for evaluation

About this Author

Dr. Stallworth is board certified in rehabilitation and phsycial medicine. She graduated from Baylor College of Medicine and finished her residency at Baylor. Dr. Stallworth is known for being a superb and compassionate physician that believes in not only health of the body of the mind as well. She currently serves on the board of Centennial Medical Center and is a former board member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She now resides with her family in middle Tennessee.

DR. CATHERINE STALLWORTH, M.D.: Hi I am Dr. Cathy Stallworth and today I would like to talk to you about carpal tunnel syndrome. One of the primary symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome is tingling and numbness in basically the thumb and the first three fingers of the hand. How does carpal tunnel syndrome occur? The median nerve travels down through the wrist along the forearm. As it enters the wrist it goes underneath this ligament. If you develop any type of tendonitis or just through normal aging and wear and tear, you can develop impingement of the median nerve as it goes through this carpal tunnel. So certainly one of the most common symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome is numbness or tingling. Other people can have weakness in the hand as well. I always recommend conservative treatment to begin with and then moving up to more advanced interventions. So certainly one of the first things that I recommend for people is that you take an anti-inflammatory drug such as ibuprofen or naproxen, again to try to get the swelling down out of that carpal tunnel. Another thing that I recommend initially is wearing splints particularly at night and [PH] Oni has got one of the splints on. So would you demonstrate that for us Oni? Thank you. You do not have to have a splint that is this sophisticated. Mainly what you need is a splint that will decrease the back and forth movement of the wrist. Other things that we recommend are activity modification. So if you are someone who works with a lot of repetitive hand activity or a lot of keyboard type activity, you may need to not modify what you are doing at work. Certainly having your hands in a neutral position as oppose to having them really extended will help. So definitely pay attention to what you are doing at work. Take lots of breaks. So if you are typing every 30 seconds or every minute pause, take a little break, shake your hands out and get back to the typing. Certainly if your symptoms persist in spite of these simple measures, you want to seek the services of a physician. You may need further evaluation, diagnosis and treatment.