If you
have ever experienced unexplained tingling or numbness in your hand or arm, you
might have had a brush with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). Between 2 percent and
3 percent of all Australians suffer from CTS at some point in their adult life.
CTS occurs when the nerve located in a narrow passageway inside your palm
called the carpal tunnel is compressed. This compression can cause numbness and
tingling in the wrist, hand, and sometimes the arm if gone untreated.
How can
you mitigate your chances of developing CTS? First, increase your awareness of major
risk factors. These include:
Injuries
Injuries
to the hand or wrist can be a major driving factor behind you developing CTS.
Broken bones, arthritis, or any other condition or injury in the area around
the carpal tunnel could potentially put pressure on the nerve. Additionally,
women are more prone to develop CTS than men as they have naturally narrower
carpal tunnels relative to men.
Diabetes
While
diabetes can be easily managed, it can cause nerve damage all over the body if
gone untreated. A common place to observe this nerve damage is within the
carpal tunnel. While diabetic nerve damage does not necessarily compress the
nerve, it still causes the characteristic numbness and tingling associated with
CTS.
Auto-Immune Disorders
If you
suffer from an auto-immune disease like psoriasis, Cohn’s disease, or
rheumatoid arthritis, you could also be at a higher risk to develop CTS. Any
chronic illness where the body’s immune system works against itself could
potentially trigger CTS as these conditions can often adversely affect the
lining of the carpal tunnel and compress the nerve within.
Workplace Factors
Finally, and the most widespread of these risk factors, any sort
of prolonged and repetitive flexing of the wrist or awkward wrist movement can
contribute to the development of CTS. This can mean anything from working with
tools on an assembly line to typing on a computer for a desk job.
While it
can be difficult to diminish some of these risk factors or change their
associated behaviors, you can take simple steps to find carpal tunnel pain
relief by using products, such as ergonomically designed computer keyboards or
specialty support wraps like our Thermoskin
Wrist Band. Regardless of how you decide to manage your
CTS or your risk factors, iHealthSphere is always here to assist in your wrist
support needs.