Carpal tunnel???????????????????

You've described the symptoms of a nerve compression perfectly, but in order to say weather it is carpel tunnel syndrome or not, I would have to know where the pain and numbness is exactly. In carpel tunnel it is in your thumb and first 2 fingers. However, if the problem is with your ring and little finger, its "ulnar tunnel syndrome." If the problem involves your entire hand and arm, it's a problem with your brachial plexus, the group of nerves there serve your entire arm.

Carpel tunnel syndrome occurs because your median nerve travels through a narrow space in your wrist known as the carpel tunnel. This tunnel is made up the bones of your wrist, and a thin membrane connecting the bone on the thumb side of your wrist with the bone of the pinkie side of your wrist. There are several other structures that travel through this space in addition to the median nerve, and it is easy this nerve to become compressed, causing your symptoms.

The good news is it is curable with a simple surgery. A hand surgeon simply goes in and clips the membrane the forms the roof of the tunnel, freeing the nerve and other structures in this space.

If you see your family physician, he/she will be able to refer you to the proper person to remedy the issue.

Hope this helps!

OK first, Joanna did a good job describing carpal tunnel. However, surgery is not as successful as you think. There is only about a 40% success ration and those patients go through a lot of pain after wards.

In addition, Carpal tunnel is usually in 1 hand first and then can gradually move to the other. It is usually not in both to begin with.

However, based on your symptoms, there are several different things that I guess would be true in your condition.

1) You are a side sleeper.

2) If you look at your posture, your shoulders will be slightly rolled forward.

3) If you go to about the midway point of your collarbone on each side and go down about 1-1 1/2 inches and rub firmly, it will be extremely tender.

4) You notice a dull achy pain between your shoulder blades.

5) You may work out doing pec exercises (this may or may not be the case)

This condition is caused because your pec muscles are extremely tight. As a result, when you sleep, the pec muscles constrict the nerves and blood vessels on both sides. This causes all the symptoms you described.

So what do you do about it.

1) Stetch the pec muscles- Look up online for a doorway pec stretch. This will help lengthen those muscles.

2) Strengthen you middle and lower trap muscles. These are the muscles that pull your shoulder blades back. Again look up online for these.

3) Get some elastic medical tape and have someone tape your should blades together when you are in a proper shoulders back position. You should be able to reach forward without the tape coming off. However, when you reach forward, you will notice the tape pulling. This will help retrain your muscles to fire the back muscles when your shoulders start going forward. It will be annoying at first, but you will get used to it. However, after 2-3 days( yes- you wear it while sleeping) of this you will notice a pain between your shoulder blades. This is due to those muscles firing more than they are used to. At this time, give them a rest (1-2 days). However, by this time you should notice a difference in the pain you wake up with.

I hope this really helps

Yes there is an answer and I have passed it along to friends with success, but the medcial field leaves me out in the cold. There are actually a lot of different things I can do to the hands but they are too involve for here. Take one hand hold it in front of you palm up slightly bent inward. Take your other hand and grab hold of your wrist just below the hand, thumb on top fingers on bottom. Press on that area and hold pressure, a good amount, and count to twenty slowly. Then start to extend hand open slowly while maintaing pressure with your thumb. When full extended hold for a ten count. Don't open your hand too quickly or it won't work. Do your other hand. Let me know what happens. thank you.

See a Dr, you need to have that checked!