Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Does anyone here currently have, or has had, carpal tunnel syndrome?

I drive powered industrial trucks at work (forklifts, stand ups, etc) which require a lot of repetitive motion, especially with the wrist. More and more I can't do much gripping at all without numbness and tingling in my right hand and wrist. I know I'm eventually going to have to see a doctor and get some tests done.

This has been going on every day for the past couple of weeks but this isn't the first time this has happened. Before my last two jobs I worked in the restaurant business as a cook (even went to culinary school for a while). Before I left the business for good my wrists would hurt and there would also be some tingling and numbness. I left that job to drive a truck and felt it a little but it wasn't frequent at all. I've been at my current job for almost eight years and have held a driving bid for almost three.

How successful is physical therapy for treating carpal tunnel or is surgery the most successful treatment for it (if it's even necessary)?

Thanks.

I just had carpal tunnel surgery in September, mine was sudden not gradual so it maybe different, carpal tunnel causes numbness and tingleling in your wrist, thumb and pointer finger, I don't know about physio, but I do know that wearing a brace .when I was waiting for surgery, made a huge difference.

Could be tendinitis, too. Try reading up on that if you haven't already. Your doctor will test to see which it is, in the meantime get a brace and make sure to wear it at night and during the day as needed. If you're a gamer, cut that out completely for a while and see if it helps.

Back in July I had four days of weird sort of numb tingly pain in my wrist, thumb, pointer, and index finger. All I could think at the time was "Oh no... not another problem" Luckily (or maybe not so lucky), it seemed to be caused by some swelling in my elbow and wrist -no idea what is causing that yet.
If you have any neck problems it might be good to rule that out as a cause as the pain, numbness, and tingling can travel down the arm.

The tingling and numbness is definitely a nerve issue. Which fingers or where in the hand are you getting the tingling/numbness?

My situation is different in that my wrist/nerve problems weren't due to repetitive motion. However, I was getting SEVERE nerve pain from my Radial and Ulnar nerve (CTS is constriction on the Median nerve, that was the only one that wasn't mad!), and physical therapy did wonders for my nerve pain, especially the radial nerve pain which was the most severe. She was able to evaluate where the issues were originating and even though I only went for about a month and a half, the radial nerve issue hasn't returned (knock wood!). My orthopedic surgeon is looking at surgery as the last resort, which is good IMO, even though it sucks because it still hurts.

Find a good orthopedic surgeon/specialist and/or a good physical therapist. That would be my best advice!

As far as my fingers are concerned the tingling and numnbess will be in my thumb and all of my fingers (but less so in the pinkie). My whole hand becomes numb.

Originally Posted by Essayons89

As far as my fingers are concerned the tingling and numnbess will be in my thumb and all of my fingers (but less so in the pinkie). My whole hand becomes numb.

Click to expand...

That sounds like (in a totally unprofessional opinion ) median and radial nerve issues, both of which go through the carpal tunnel.

I've had bilateral Carpal Tunnel surgery this year! (I'm 25) Best thing I EVER did.

I treid PT for 6 months, it didn't help at all, I even had custom splints made for each of my hands. The numbness would wake me up at night, it was TERRIBLE!!!

Since the surgery, my hads are feeling much better, I sleep better, I can type longer, all very nice things.

I have it in both hands, a combo of doing data entry and working in a restaurant, both of which I still do

when mine first made itself apparent, my left hand hurt so badly I thought I had broken it! now my right hand/wrist is the one that will bother me from time to time. Still very manageable, but I'm sure at some point down the road I will need the surgery I mostly get numbness in my hand and wrist, but occasionally I get shooting pains up to my elbow

I had it to the extreme I had pain so severe that I would wake up in the middle of the night and sit on the bathroom floor and cry, It is hard to explain how numb they were and yet how bad it hurt from the tips of my fingers all the way to my shoulders.
I tried therapy wearing the braces and I simply got no relief finally I had a Nerve conduction study witch measures how well and how fast the nerves can send electrical signals, and finally decided to have the surgery.
I had it in both hands and my experience was it was without a doubt the best thing I ever did and that was some 16 years or so ago, I have never had any problems at all, I had the right one done then 30 days later the left and never had a problem with anything from the surgery, they never even hurt right after... If you get that chance ask about that test I did not want to be guessing if thats what it was.

I've developed it in both wrists since starting work bathing dogs.. everyone wants to blame the typing instead, but my wrists actually hurt while I am washing dogs that take longer, and I typed a lot more than I do now for years without ever having a single problem. But I guess that's not the point, lol.

I wear braces on both wrists every night when I sleep.. and it helps a lot. Mine is fairly mild, but almost without fail I'll wake up numb and/or in pain if I don't wear the braces to sleep. If I find it bothering me during the day I'll come home from work and wear the brace for a couple of hours. That's what the doctor I saw told me to do, along with taking anti-inflammatories as needed.. but the pills never seemed to do anything for me, so I stopped taking them after doing so for the initial time he told me to.

I feel I should add that the pain I was getting from the Carpal tunnel would move up my arm, to my neck and sholder, and eventually I would get a horrible headach if I didn't listen to my body and STOP doing whatever it is I was doing to agravate my condition. I did find that self massage would help a lot, I would do it 2-3x a day while at work. Here is the website I used with the directions how to do it (I used my regular hand loation)

http://www.kreinik.com/articles/news.php?newsid=32

Originally Posted by Essayons89

As far as my fingers are concerned the tingling and numnbess will be in my thumb and all of my fingers (but less so in the pinkie). My whole hand becomes numb.

Click to expand...

my whole hand was effected, the orthopedic surgeon explained to me that the carpel tunnel only effects, the wrist, thumb, pointer finger and the inside of the middle finger, the other side of the middle finger, the ring finger and the pinky finger are controlled by the ulna nerve, it runs through the wrist about an half an inch in from the pinky side, it is called the guyons canal. I had both surgery's done, at the same time. the carpel tunnel was successful the guyons canal was not, I now have to see a neurologist to see it it is pinched in my elbow.

Originally Posted by mbjerkness

my whole hand was effected, the orthopedic surgeon explained to me that the carpel tunnel only effects, the wrist, thumb, pointer finger and the inside of the middle finger, the other side of the middle finger, the ring finger and the pinky finger are controlled by the ulna nerve, it runs through the wrist about an half an inch in from the pinky side, it is called the guyons canal. I had both surgery's done, at the same time. the carpel tunnel was successful the guyons canal was not, I now have to see a neurologist to see it it is pinched in my elbow.

Click to expand...

Right, but the Radial nerve, which is in close proximity to the Median nerve, controls feeling to the pointer and middle fingers as well as the actual hand.

Sever inflmation in the carpal tunnel can cause excess pressure on the ulner nerve as well, thus seeming like you have both conditions, that is where the Nerve Conduction test comes in handy.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and the information, I really appreciate it.

I'll try to get in to see my doctor next week. I need a referral from him to see a specialist for it. I'll be sure to ask for a nerve conduction test.