Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a pinched nerve in the wrist. Several nerves travel down the arm, across the wrist, and into the fingers to give us feeling in our fingers. The median nerve is one of these nerves and gives feeling to the thumb, index, long, and ring fingers. This nerve also helps move the thumb. As the median nerve crosses the wrist into the hand, it travels through a tight tunnel called the carpal tunnel. The tunnel is between 1 and 2 inches long and is surrounded by wrist bones on the back side, and a tight ligament on the top side (See figure). If swelling occurs inside this tunnel or the tunnel becomes tighter, the median nerve gets pinched and does not function properly. This loss of median nerve function causes numbness, tingling, or pain.