Understanding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Causes, Symptoms, and Conservative Treatment

Ajouté : 2026-05-26

[00:00:01][music] >> Hello, this is Dr. Marc Gaddam, your digital physical therapist. I've been a physical therapist in New York State licensed for 20 years. I'm back again to talk to you about the most common entrapment neuropathy in the upper extremity, it's called carpal tunnel syndrome. So, I'm going to talk to you uh how this happens and what are the treatment. So, continue watching this video.

[00:00:28]Carpal tunnel syndrome, the causes are repetitive hand use compression or anything that reduces space in the carpal tunnel, as is shown here, or sustained wrist flexion extension or prolonged vibration on the hand and wrist.

[00:00:42]And the symptoms are more at night. So, what this means is for people who work, you know, in jobs of carpentry, like for example, you know, hammering a nail or doing anything that uses continuous use of the hand with the tools. Like for example, this person is doing some carpentry work and using some tools repetitively, which will compress the thumb.

[00:01:04]Going back.

[00:01:05]So, this results in variable numbness and tingling of the hand and the arm.

[00:01:10]Sometimes there is muscle dysfunction at the level of the wrist.

[00:01:15]2 to 5% of the general population has this problem. The numbness is coming from the thumb, the index, the middle finger, and half of the fourth finger. Those are symptoms of the carpal tunnel numbness and tingling. So, how are we going to approach carpal tunnel? First, we have to do conservative management. What we're going to try to do is we're going to try to decrease uh the pressure or vibration or the increased hydrostatic pressure in the wrist, which causes ischemia. So, how are we going to do that? Because some of them, again, are work-related, and some of them they have diabetes or pregnant or some factors involving occupation.

[00:01:59]So, the best thing to do at first is what it's called night splinting. So, we use what it's called the night splint to decrease the pressure on the carpal tunnel. Wrist flexor [music] stretches * 10 reps 2 to 3 sets * 2 to 3 times daily 3 to 5 seconds hold Wrist extensor stretches * [music] 10 reps 2 to 3 sets * 2 to 3 times daily >> [music] [music]