What
Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?
Provided by ehealthMD.com
| Carpal
tunnel syndrome, or CTS, is a condition in which one of
the major nerves that controls the functioning of the hand
and fingers - the median nerve - becomes compressed inside
a "tunnel" in the wrist. This can cause various
symptoms including pain, numbness, tingling, or a "funny
feeling" in the fingers, hand, or wrist. |
 |
What
Is The Carpal Tunnel?
Carpal comes from carpus, the Latin word for wrist. The
carpal tunnel is a small passage inside the wrist. Several fine
bones of the wrist form the floor and sides of the tunnel. A ligament
called the transverse carpal ligament, which arches over the bones,
forms the roof of the tunnel.
Passing
through this tunnel are:
- The
median nerve, which conducts impulses, sent by the brain, down
the arm and to the fingers
-
The tendons of the finger flexor muscles, which allow the fingers
to bend
- Arteries
and veins
The
median nerve supplies most of the feeling in
the hand, particularly to the thumb, index and middle fingers,
the thumb half of the palm and the outer side of the hand. It
also controls the movement of many of the tendons that bend the
fingers, allowing the hand to grasp objects as well as pinch.
Facts
About Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Carpal
tunnel syndrome (CTS) results in more than two million visits
to physicians' offices each year.
- CTS
strikes approximately three times as many women as men.
- CTS
is one of the most common job-related injuries.
- Although
it may be aggravated by work, CTS frequently occurs in people
who are not working with their hands.
- Approximately
260,000 carpal tunnel surgeries are performed each year in the
U.S., and 47% of these are considered to be work-related.
- According
to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 1994, carpal
tunnel syndrome accounted for 1.7% of workplace-related conditions
in private industry that resulted in work loss.
- Almost
half of CTS cases result in 31 days or more of work loss.
- If
not properly treated, CTS can cause irreversible nerve damage
and permanent disability of varying degrees.
- CTS
accounts for roughly 10% to 17% of repetitive strain injuries.
- CTS
is not a byproduct of the computer age. Meat packers complained
of CTS symptoms as long ago as the mid-1800s.
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