Wondering why your hand hurts all the time? It might be Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. After the onset of COVID, many of us started to work from home. By necessity, most of this work involved typing on a laptop or desktop computer, and often for 7-10 hours a day. This has lead to a number of common overuse syndromes.
If you’ve experienced your hand hurting at night, especially with your fingertips tingling and your thumb, index finger and middle finger feeling numb at the tips, you may be developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). CTS is a nerve compression problem: The median nerve in your wrist gets squeezed by the action of your finger muscle and tendons constantly typing, and when the nerve gets squeezed for a long time, it ISN’T HAPPY! The lack of blood flow in the nerve causes it to send pain signals to your brain, and the fibers of the nerve that govern sensation in your fingertips stop working normally, producing numbness. Waking up at night with severe pain in your hand is a clear sign that you are developing this condition.
THE SOLUTION
BREAKS - Take breaks from keyboarding. Take a 5 minute break every hour and stretch your fingers and massage your wrist.
BRACE - Wear a wrist brace. An over the counter “wrist immobilizer” that keeps your wrist straight (thereby preventing further pressure on the nerve) can help immensely, especially if worn at night when we have a tendency to sleep with our wrist bent over.
CONSULT - If symptoms persist, consult an orthopedic surgeon, preferably a hand sub-specialist, who is highly trained in the care of these conditions.
In most cases, surgery can be avoided, but in cases that don’t improve with some simple, straightforward lifestyle changes, surgery may be necessary. Fortunately, it's a very uncomplicated outpatient procedure with 2-3 week recovery period.
