If you are experiencing symptoms of numbness and tingling in your hands that interferes with sleeping and is bothersome during daytime activities, you may have carpal tunnel syndrome.

Carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms are usually numbness and tingling in the palm side of the thumb, index and middle fingers. At times, it also can cause severe wrist pain. In more advanced cases, patients might develop hand weakness and might drop objects.

These symptoms are from increased pressure on a nerve in the wrist called the median nerve. This nerve runs from the forearm through a passageway in the wrist (carpal tunnel) to the hand.

These symptoms initially might wake a person up from sleep, often, a patient will “shake” their hand until the symptoms go away. Patients also might experience symptoms when they are driving, reading a newspaper or holding their phone.

There are many causes of carpal tunnel syndrome, and they might be related to one’s occupation if the wrist is overextended repeatedly. Repeated motion of your wrist can cause compression and swelling to the median nerve.

If you have a desk job, it is important to understand that the positioning for your wrists while using a keyboard and mouse at work are important. Be sure to have an ergonomic desk chair, adjust your chair until your legs are parallel to the ground and your knees are even with your hips. Your arms should be parallel with the ground as well, and your feet should be flat on the floor.

Your computer screen needs to be at eye level and about an arm’s length away from you. You then need to position your keyboard correctly. Your keyboard needs to be directly in front of your monitors and you will want to leave about 4 to 6 inches for your arm to rest on while you type. Your mouse should be on the same level as your keyboard, too.

Your work posture plays an important role in your overall daily routine to help prevent carpal tunnel syndrome.

Carpal tunnel also can be due to pregnancy, diabetes, occasionally an injury, texting and certain hobbies such as playing a musical instrument, crafting, gaming, working on cars where you’re turning wrenches and even gardening where you are snipping, pinching and pulling.

You can do a few things to decrease your risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. Take breaks to give your wrist a break, do stretches to your hands and wrist and be less forceful while gripping.

Repetitive motions and a tighter grip might increase the chance in developing carpal tunnel.

A history and physical examination by your physician usually is enough to make the diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. Occasionally, tests might be ordered to confirm the diagnosis and to rule out other causes of hand numbness.

Once the diagnosis is made, treatments such as wearing a wrist brace day and night might be recommended to help alleviate the symptoms. If symptoms continue, an injection might be appropriate.

Finally, surgery might be needed to stop symptoms and allow a person to return to full function and sleep again.

Surgery usually is a short procedure, about 10 minutes, and is complete by cutting a ligament in the wrist to decrease pressure on the nerve. This is a highly successful procedure and is done with a small incision.

Post-op recovery is brief, and most patients return to full function in two to four weeks.

Pierotti is an orthopedic surgeon at UnityPoint Health — Finley Hospital, Dubuque.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.

Check your email for details.

Invalid password or account does not exist

Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.

An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account.

Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.

A receipt was sent to your email.