How to Identify Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Risk Factors

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the nerves in your carpal tunnel, a small passageway connecting your fingers' nerves and tendons with your wrist, become pressured and overstressed. While people often identify carpal tunnel syndrome as a condition developed through computer overuse, the truth is that the scientific link between the two is not absolute. Many other hand and wrist activities also carry risk factors. Read on to learn more about how to identify carpal tunnel syndrome risk factors.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Physician

1. Observe the frequency with which you perform repetitive activities that bend your wrists at a downward angle, away from the rest of your arm. That's the primary position that puts strain on your carpal tunnel nerves and tendons, and you may be at risk if you engage in any activity that repeatedly and consistently stresses your wrists.

2. Be careful if you have suffered serious hand or wrist injuries, burns or bone breaks in the region of your carpal tunnel.

3. Determine if you were born with a narrowed carpal tunnel by having X-rays of your wrists, hands and arms taken. You will be at increased risk for carpal tunnel syndrome if you were.

4. Watch closely for symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome as you age. The leading age group among people diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome is the 40 to 60 spread.

5. Identify sex-based risk factors: women are approximately three times more likely than men to develop carpal tunnel syndrome.

6. Take your medical history into account. You are at increased risk for developing carpal tunnel syndrome if you have suffered from any of the following conditions: arthritis, diabetes, hypothyroidism, Cushing's disease and Raynaud's disease.

7. Identify additional risk factors. If you retain water because of kidney or heart problems, you are at increased risk. Certain medications and physical conditions can also heighten your risk, including menopause, pregnancy, breastfeeding, taking birth control pills, high blood pressure drugs or cortisone.

Tips & Warnings

• A list of occupations that may lead to risk factors for developing carpal tunnel syndrome include those that make heavy use of power tools, as well as any assembly line work that keeps your wrists bent at an angle to your arm.
• Work with an ergonomic keyboard and a desk pad that keeps your wrists properly elevated if your job requires you to be at the computer a lot.
• See your physician immediately if you experience persistent pain, tingling, numbness or weakness in your fingers, palm and wrist. When the carpal tunnel nerves have become strained, it is also not uncommon for pain and discomfort to extend all the way up to the elbow and even the shoulder.

Resources

• Further Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Information From the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

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