What does carpal tunnel pain feel like?

If you feel the symptoms like pain, numbness, and/or tingling effect in your hand and arm, you may be having carpal tunnel syndrome. Squeezing or compressing of the median nerve (one of the primary nerves to the hand) is one of the main reasons for this. The abnormal pressure on the median nerve, due to the swelling , results in pain, numbness, and weakness in the hand.

Among the various symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, few to mention are:

• Lack of feeling
• Prickling and/or smoldering sensation
• Pain primarily in the thumb and index, middle, and ring fingers
• Irregular shock-like feelings that spread out to the thumb and index, middle, and ring fingers,
• Pain or tingling sensation traveling up the forearm towards the shoulder
• Weakness and gaucheness in hand, making it difficult to perform even simple activities like wearing and buttoning dresses
• Tumbling things

Many patients seem to report that the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome begin slowly — without a precise injury and that the pain comes and goes initially. However, as the condition deteriorates, symptoms may occur more  or may persevere for a prolonged period.

During the night due to sleeping with the wrists bent, the pain and the numbness may awaken the person from sleep. In the daytime, symptoms repeatedly occur if you hold something for a long duration with your wrist bent forward/backward as we do while holding the book or phone or while typing. When carpal tunnel syndrome becomes more rigorous, you may have less clutch strength due to the shrinking of muscles in hand. Pain and muscle cramping will also become worse. You may even experience loss of feeling in fingers, loss of coordination to use your fingers like using the thumb to pinch. Some people also experience a sensation like an electric shock. Over time, you may lose your ability to differentiate hot from cold in the areas that feel numb.