My wrists and hands hurt and I have to type at work all day. What's wrong and can a doctor help me?

There are several things that could be wrong. It could be arthritis which affects many people especially as we age. It could also be carpal tunnel syndrome which is known to be caused by activities like typing if you do a lot of it. What carpal tunnel is - is a weakened condition of the nerves in your hands. It is difficult to diagnose but your primary doctor can use a battery of tests and suggest treatments. Different treatments work for different people.

Before diagnosing carpal tunnel even if you exhibit all the classic symptoms, your doctor should perform the available tests. He should test for nerve damage to not only the nerve that is usually defective in carpal tunnel, but damage or pressure on another major nerve serving the hand. This other main nerve can cause symptoms very similar to carpal tunnel. There are many conditions that resemble carpal tunnel. Most importantly, if your doctor rushes to diagnose based only on your description of symptoms and quickly recommends surgery, it would be to your benefit to get at least one other opinion. Even a physician with sincere intentions can occasionally misdiagnose a condition. A good doctor will not be offended by a patient wanting a second opinion.

I don't mean to alarm you, but there are cases where carpal tunnel surgery is not successful in curing or improving use of your hands. There are also people who do regain full use of their hands. Any surgery has risks and shouldn't be undertaken without considering other options.

The first thing that comes to mind is carpal tunnel syndrome. The second thing is to stop doing that much typing but of course that isn't possible unless you want to give up your job. First examine the desk you work at. When you type are your hands in a comfortable position? The monitor screen should be easy to read - not too high or too low. Your hands should be approximately at the level of your waist. Even having a comfortable chair is important.

These are things you can do to "alleviate" the pain and numbness. It doesn't automatically follow that these are causes of the carpal tunnel syndrome. The medical community has recently formed two separate (and not equal) bodies of opinion regarding this syndrome. After many studies, some believe that stress is the cause and some (doctor's) believe that it is more likely due to genetics.

If you gathered a group of physicians in a room to debate the causes of carpal tunnel syndrome, some would line up on one side of the issue and some on the other. It was until recently, commonly accepted that carpal tunnel syndrome was caused by repetitive hand movements such as typing.

One case was presented of an eighteen year old healthy female who developed minor numbness of the lower arms, pain in the wrists and major numbness in her hands. The physician treating her wisely did a history and during the discussion it was found that she was working at a livery stable for the summer. In addition to taking inexperienced riders out on trail rides, she was brushing ten horses each morning and lifting and putting on their heavy saddles. When she cut back and saddled only half that number and worked carefully and slowly, it alleviated the problem almost immediately.

She may have been predisposed to have this happen due to genetic factors although this may have been aggravation to the nerve running through the carpal tunnel with or without any genetic factors involved.

Some doctors now believe that it isn't repetitive work at all that causes carpal tunnel syndrome. They believe that it is a matter of genetics. Quite possibly, just as in the age old nature versus nurture debate regarding child rearing, it is a combination of genetics and the aggravation of repetitive movement.

Now that you accept the doctor's diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome. You had an electric conduction test to check for nerve damage along with other tests. Now the advice is to have surgery. You cannot be sure it will resolve the problem though. The surgery is only successful 60 to 70% of the time. The general consensus is that the condition might worsen without surgery. Each patient has to make a decision based on the available facts.

The pressure on the nerve may increase. Since the ligaments banding the wrist where the nerve runs through to your fingers do not stretch, they press on the nerve causing the pain and numbness. There is an endoscopic procedure that is being done as an alternative to traditional surgery. Patients can explore that possibility.

It's not advisable to waste money on creams and splints that make big promises but don't deliver. You can take time to make your decision about surgery. Don't allow yourself to be rushed into it.

What is the best CMS to choose?