Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?

Carpal tunnel syndrome, or CTS, is a condition in which one of the major nerves that controls the functioning of the hand and fingers – the median nerve – becomes compressed inside a “tunnel” in the wrist. This can cause various symptoms including pain, numbness, tingling, or a “funny feeling” in the fingers, hand, or wrist.

What Is The Carpal Tunnel?

Carpal comes from carpus, the Latin word for wrist. The carpal tunnel is a small passage inside the wrist. Several fine bones of the wrist form the floor and sides of the tunnel. A ligament called the transverse carpal ligament, which arches over the bones, forms the roof of the tunnel.

Passing through this tunnel are:

• The median nerve, which conducts impulses, sent by the brain, down the arm and to the fingers
• The tendons of the finger flexor muscles, which allow the fingers to bend
• Arteries and veins

The median nerve supplies most of the feeling in the hand, particularly to the thumb, index and middle fingers, the thumb half of the palm and the outer side of the hand. It also controls the movement of many of the tendons that bend the fingers, allowing the hand to grasp objects as well as pinch.