Symptoms For Carpal Tunnel

What is Carpal Tunnel 

The carpal tunnel is a bony canal formed by the wrist bones on three sides and a ligament that runs across the wrist on the other. Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by an increase in fluid causing swelling around the channel of nerves (the carpal tunnel) in your wrist, leading to tingling, pain, numbness and lack of coordination in your fingers and hands.  The swelling and fluid retention that’s so common during pregnancy can increase the pressure in this relatively narrow and inflexible space, compressing the median nerve that runs through it.

Carpal Tunnel Symptoms

Symptoms may include numbness, tingling, burning, pain, or a dull ache in the fingers, hand, wrist, and even up the arm to the shoulder. In severe chronic cases, your hand may feel clumsy or weak and you may find it difficult to grip things and to perform tasks which require fine movements of your hands and fingers. It will be worse in your dominant hand (the one you write with) and most commonly occurs in the first and middle fingers. It is particularly painful when you wake up in the morning, because your hands have been curled up at night.

You can find immediate relief from the carpal tunnel syndrome by applying the techniques in this guide Natural Treatment for carpal tunnel.

Symptoms usually affect both hands and can appear at any time, but it usually occurs towards the end of pregnancy and is quite likely to recur in a subsequent one. It can also continue, or sometimes develop, in the days following the birth of your baby.

If you have a personal or family history of the condition, or if you have any problems with your back, neck or shoulders, such as a previous slipped disc, broken collar bone or whiplash injury, it is more likely that you will develop carpal tunnel syndrome.

Similarly, excessive weight gain in pregnancy increases your chances of developing the condition. This can happen if you are expecting more than one baby, if you are already overweight before you become pregnant, or if your breast size increases considerably during pregnancy.

Although it can be very uncomfortable, carpal tunnel syndrome is not normally a serious condition and usually eases off within a week or two of your baby’s birth when your hormone and fluid levels return to normal. Very occasionally the problem does not resolve itself.  You can find immediate relief from the carpal tunnel in pregnancy by applying the techniques in this guide Natural Treatment for carpal tunnel.