Home > Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders > Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Definition

Carpal tunnel syndrome is an entrapment neuropathy of the wrist. It occurs when the median nerve, which runs through the wrist and enervates the thumb, pointer finger, middle finger and the thumb side of the ring finger, is aggravated because of compression. Symptoms include numbness, tingling and pain in the fingers the median nerve sensitizes. Some people have difficulty grasping items and may have pain radiating up the arm. Carpal tunnel syndrome is common in people who work on assembly lines, doing heavy lifting and packing involving repetitive motions. Other repetitive movements such as typing are often implicated in cause carpal tunnel syndrome, however some clinical evidence contradicts this association. Additional causes of the syndrome include pregnancy, diabetes, obesity or simply wrist anatomy in which the carpal tunnel is narrow....