The condition known as carpal tunnel syndrome was virtually unknown to patients merely three decades ago. Sure, many people suffered from hand pain or numbness, but the awareness of the specific disorder coincided with the mass marketing of computer keyboards in the late twentieth century.



Today, we now this disorder affects about 5 million Americans. It’s so severe that over 230,000 surgeries are performed annually to relieve symptoms. Those symptoms are generally pain, numbness or weakness in the fingers and hand. Other symptoms like burning, itching, and tingling are also common.

It was initially thought that extensive keyboarding was to blame for the increase in the incidence of carpal tunnel. But, like most medical disorders, it’s not that simple.

The fault was then directed to repetitive stress (strain). This is when we perform rapid and repetitive finger or hand movements. Many jobs requiring such activity are infamous for being associated with a high incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome.

The only problem with the repetitive stress causality is that there a huge proportion of people who acquire carpal tunnel syndrome who don’t stress their hands. But there could be other factors at play.

This is why we now view carpal tunnel syndrome as the confluence of varied physiological events. When these events come together in just the right way, your risk of acquiring this disorder multiplies.

The exact cause of carpal tunnel syndrome is not clear to scientists. At its source, flexor tendons in the wrist joint become irritated. The irritation leads to swelling of the coverings of the tendons, known as tendon sheaths. 

Anywhere else along the length of the tendon, from the forearm to the fingertips, such swelling is not a big problem. But sometimes the swelling occurs inside the wrist joint, in a passageway called the carpal tunnel (which is where the disorder gets its name).

This carpal tunnel passageway is narrow and tightly packed with the flexor tendons. It also contains the median nerve. This is a main nerve of the hand that carries sensations like pain, touch, temperature, etc. 

The tendons and nerve converge and funnel through the carpal tunnel. This crowed channel is already tightly packed. When the tendons swell inside this space, problems occur.

The tunnel essentially has rock-solid walls. That means there’s no room for anything to “give” or expand. As a result, the swollen tendons push against the median nerve inside the carpal tunnel until it's thoroughly crushed. This is how symptoms originate.

The crushed median nerve is why you get all of the signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. The primary symptoms are hand or finger pain, numbness, and weakness. The infographic below shows how these symptoms present themselves among carpal tunnel sufferers.

So what causes tendons to inflame and swell in the first place? Scientists believe that one of the main causes is how the hand and fingers are used during everyday activities. 

The infographic below breaks down specific events or hand exposures. When surveying carpal tunnel syndrome patients, these key factors were found to be most prevalent. 

Scientists now have over three decades of data about who gets carpal tunnel syndrome and when. The infographics below break down patient demographics into age groups, sex, comorbidities (having simultaneous disorders), and ethnicity.

Ethnicity and carpal tunnel syndrome

Comorbidities and carpal tunnel syndrome

Obesity and carpal tunnel syndrome

There are 5 primary ways doctors can diagnose carpal tunnel syndrome. These infographic below shows each method, and its relative success in providing an accurate diagnosis. 

Jobs are associated with carpal tunnel syndrome

It’s clear that certain events and exposures of the hands and fingers lead to acquiring carpal tunnel syndrome. This begs the question, “Which jobs are associated with performing such risky activities?”

The infographic below shows which occupations put workers at the highest risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

Job impact of carpal tunnel syndrome

Relative to other injuries or disorders, carpal tunnel syndrome leads as the cause for lost work days. The infographic below shows how many days of work are missed due to carpal tunnel syndrome relative to other conditions. 

Doctors recommend several avenues of treatment options for carpal tunnel syndrome. Usually the treatment is based on the severity of the condition and how long you’ve suffered with it. 

As the infographic below shows, most patients first contact a doctor when their severity is in the early-to-moderate stage. 

The next infographic shows how doctors treat patients at the initial visit. Note the vast majority are given steroid injections to relieve the pain or numbness.

The following infographic combines the two above. It shows how doctors treat carpal tunnel symptoms relative to the severity of the condition.

As the data above shows, surgery is a major treatment modality for carpal tunnel syndrome.

Carpal tunnel surgery (technically called carpal tunnel release surgery) aims to decompress the median nerve. That means the nerve is “released” from pressure caused by swollen tendons. Carpal tunnel surgery can be performed in one of two basic ways; open carpal tunnel release surgery or endoscopic carpal tunnel release surgery. 

Who gets carpal tunnel surgery? The infographic below depicts multiple data. it shows the sex and average patient age at diagnosis compared to when surgery is performed. the time of surgery as a percent of the population.

The infographic below shows the outcome of using either surgical technique at regular intervals, up to a year after surgery.

Surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome is not the only treatment that’s effective. The other major forms of treatment include splinting, stretching exercises, manual therapy (massage), and corticosteroid injections.



The infographics below compare surgery to each one of these alternate treatments.

Success rate (symptoms improvement of splinting alone compared to surgery)

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When everything goes well carpal tunnel surgery patients usually are very happy. And fortunately complications of carpal tunnel surgery are not common. In fact, they represent 3-7% of the outcomes.

But when complications do occur, they’re potentially devastating. More common are undesirable outcomes. These make the carpal tunnel experience more miserable. Often, litigation ensues.



The infographic below shows the maximum rate of each complication and undesirable outcome after surgery.

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When the carpal tunnel surgery goes wrong, litigation often ensues. The infographic below describes the overall outcome of litigation. 

The infographic below details the average cost of settling carpal tunnel surgery claims in litigation.

This infographic shows the monetary outcome of carpal tunnel surgery litigation.

The infographic below shows the type of injury resulting from carpa,lt unnel syndrome releease surgery that leads to successful claim.

The infographic below is a breakdown of costs compared to the type of injury resulting from carpal tunnel surgery.