Do you take this kind of hand numbness seriously? ——The trouble of carpal tunnel syndrome

This is the 3774th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

Talking about bone and muscle diseases vol 3

Recently, Aunt Wang has felt numbness and pain in her right hand every night and the pain is getting worse and worse. The numbness is very specific, and it affects the thumb, index finger, middle finger and half of the ring finger of her right hand. Sometimes the pain is so severe that she wakes herself up from her sleep. Gradually, Aunt Wang's right hand has lost strength. She feels that it has a great impact on her life, so she comes to the hand and foot injury department of the Department of Joint Surgery of Yueyang Hospital for treatment.

Doctor Hou found that the radial thumb, index finger, and half of the ring finger of Aunt Wang's right hand were very numb, and the symptoms were even gradually getting worse. He highly suspected that she had carpal tunnel syndrome. After high-frequency ultrasound and nerve electromyography examination of the wrist joint, Doctor Hou further confirmed his guess that Aunt Wang was suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome.

Typical numbness area of ​​"three and a half fingers" in carpal tunnel syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common peripheral nerve compression syndrome. It is caused by compression of the median nerve in the wrist joint due to various reasons.

There are many causes of carpal tunnel syndrome, including traumatic fracture and dislocation, long-term hand labor, long-term wrist flexion such as using a mouse, and even changes in hormone levels in some pregnant women, which can also induce carpal tunnel syndrome.

If carpal tunnel syndrome is not intervened in time, it will gradually worsen as the disease worsens, and symptoms such as hand muscle atrophy, shiny skin, thickened nails, and even ulcers on the affected fingers and other manifestations of malnutrition of the hand nerves will appear.

The treatment can be generally divided into two categories: conservative treatment and surgical treatment.

There are many conservative treatment methods, and brace immobilization is the most basic protective method. Studies have shown that acupuncture, Chinese medicine fumigation, physical therapy, etc. can all play a certain role. If these treatments are ineffective, local injection of glucocorticoids in the carpal tunnel can also relieve a large number of patients. Under the arrangement of Dr. Hou, Aunt Wang went to the Acupuncture and Trauma Department of Quyang Road Community Health Service Center, which is the counterpart of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Medical Alliance in Northern Shanghai. After comprehensive treatments such as acupuncture, Chinese medicine fumigation, and plaster application by Dr. Lu of the Acupuncture and Trauma Department, Aunt Wang's hands gradually became less numb, and her condition improved day by day.

Author: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Feng Shengyi, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology Center