Do you know that? Your fingers tingle, your hands fall asleep at night? Sometimes your hands even fall asleep while holding your cell phone, riding a bike or reading. If the hands often fall asleep, this is a typical symptom of the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Those affected should act quickly and purposefully at the first sign of carpal tunnel syndrome. But it doesn't always have to be the surgery. Find out more about a new, gentle and at the same time effective treatment method for carpal tunnel syndrome.
What does the tingling in the hands mean?
At first, the tingling often occurs only at night, but over time the frequency increases and the numbness in the fingertips increases. This may indicate the presence of carpal tunnel syndrome.
About every tenth adult in Germany suffers from these symptoms, with women being particularly affected during and after menopause. The exact underlying cause of the condition is often unclear.
The pain or numbness associated with carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by an increase in volume in the carpal tunnel. The carpal tunnel, or carpal canal, is a canal through which tendons and the median nerve, the middle arm nerve, pass. The tendons are surrounded by a thin sheath commonly called a tendon sheath.
When overused, these tendon sheaths can swell, requiring more space and increasing pressure in the carpal tunnel. With carpal tunnel syndrome, the pressure on the median nerve increases, causing pain as the nerve is pinched.
Hands fall asleep at night. That's how it goes.
As a rule, carpal tunnel syndrome begins with the hands falling asleep and tingling in the tip of the middle finger. Many sufferers report tingling or painful discomfort in the thumb, index and middle finger. A little later the whole hand feels swollen, the pain radiates into the hand and forearm.
Carpal pain tends to occur at night. They are accompanied by an increasing weakness in the hand: it is difficult to unscrew a lid, to grasp small objects, to open a button.
If not diagnosed early, irreversible damage to the median nerve and muscle atrophy in the thenar can result. This severely limits fine motor skills, and gripping movements in particular are then hardly possible.
Step 1 of conventional treatment:
The night storage splint
As part of conventional therapy, your doctor will often prescribe a night splint as the first step. The goal of wearing it while you sleep is to prevent unconscious hand twisting. It is important that the splint is actually only worn at night, as wearing it during the day can lead to stiffening of the wrist.
However, it is frequently reported that wearing a night splint is perceived as uncomfortable and uncomfortable. The real downside, however, is that while it can disrupt sleep, the splint has no effect on the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome in the long term. Pressure on the median nerve remains unchanged because the carpal tunnel is not widened.
Step 2 of the conventional treatment: the operation
If the symptoms do not improve and the hands continue to tingle and hurt, surgery is often the next step on the treatment plan after a few weeks or months with conventional treatment. In a carpal tunnel operation, the carpal ligament is severed and the nerve canal is thereby widened.
This can be done through open surgery or minimally invasive (endoscopic) and carries the usual risks associated with surgery.
What are the risks of carpal tunnel surgery?
The first risk of carpal tunnel surgery is that cutting the carpal ligament can injure the median nerve, causing permanent damage. In such cases, those affected report persistent pain immediately after the operation.
curpal® is considered a manual therapy and is often successful
With curpal® we have one for many people long-awaited alternative developed for the conventional treatment and surgery of carpal tunnel syndrome.
treatment approach by curpal® is:
- Carpal tunnel is stretched & widened
With a mechanically generated pressure on the back of the hand, curpal® stretches the carpal ligament running across from the ball of the hand to the edge of the hand on the inside of the hand and thus widens the carpal tunnel.
- Pressure on the nerve decreases
The nerve now has more space in the widened carpal tunnel and the pressure is relieved. The pressure was the cause of the pain and discomfort.
- Pain and tingling subside
As a result, the pain decreases or disappears completely. If they ever reappear, the carpal tunnel can be stretched again with curpal®.
This is how curpal® is used
The hand is inserted into the device. The air cushion is gradually inflated using a hand pump and the pressure is maintained for around three minutes. This process is repeated three times in a row, and the entire cycle is carried out three times a day. In this way, the carpal tunnel is slowly and steadily stretched. Most patients can see significant improvements after just a few weeks.
This stretch gives the median nerve, which runs through the carpal canal, more space, which relieves pressure on the nerve and relieves symptoms of nerve pressure, such as tingling fingers, night pain, or numbness.
Since this gentle method has no side effects, it can be used at any time and is also suitable during pregnancy.
