Why A Bone Disease Makes Your Hands Go Numb
Osteoporosis causes weak bones and painful joints. It also puts you at risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition which can cause you to lose functionality in one or both hands. If your orthopedic doctor has diagnosed you with osteoporosis and you are experiencing numbness or tingling in your hands, here is what is happening and how it is treated.
Median Nerve Irritation
A large nerve, called the median nerve, extends down your arm from your elbow, through the wrist and into the palm of your hand. Your wrist joint is made up of a complex series of bones that allow your wrist to move in all directions. The median nerve passes through this structure via a small channel called the carpal tunnel.
Osteoporosis can erode and deform the bones in your wrist. You may experience it as stiffness in your wrist. The deformed bones can also constrict the carpal tunnel, irritating the median nerve. When irritated sufficiently, the tissue surrounding the nerve becomes inflamed. This is the start of carpal tunnel syndrome and, if left untreated, can result in you losing the ability to pick up and hold objects with your hands.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Symptoms
As the irritation of the median nerve continues, you'll begin to have a number of symptoms, including:
- loss of feeling in your wrists and hands
- tingling sensation that can extend from the elbow down into the palm of your hands
- stiffness in the wrist joint
- pain starting at the wrist and extending down into the palms
- inability to grasp and hold onto objects
In extreme cases, the condition can make it impossible to do simple tasks such as turn a door knob or pick up a coffee cup.
Treating This Condition
The sooner you begin treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, the more likely it is that a non-invasive approach will improve the condition. In some cases, surgery is the only option to regain functionality in your hands.
The non-invasive treatment options include:
- anti-inflammatory and pain medication to reduce swelling of the nerve and the pain in your wrists
- wrist wraps and braces to hold your wrist at a neutral angle, reducing the pressure on the nerve to allow the inflammation to go down naturally
- physical therapy on your wrists to increase circulation which can reduce the inflammation
Your doctor may recommend steroid injections into the wrists to quickly reduce the inflammation and give you some immediate relief.
When the non-invasive approaches fail to give you enough pain relief, a hand surgery specialist can do one of the following procedures:
- widen the opening of the carpal tunnel to give the median nerve more room in which to move through the wrist
- reshape the deformed bones in your wrists to remove any pressure placed on the median nerve
Regardless of the treatment option, once the irritation of the median nerve is removed, the inflammation will go away, as will the pain. You'll regain the feeling in your hands and be able to use them for those simple tasks once again. Contact a business, such as Town Center Orthopaedic Associates, for more information.
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