Exactly what carpal tunnel feels like is different for everybody. However, common symptoms include numbness, pain, tingling, and burning in the palm and fingers. Often, symptoms can extend into your wrist and forearm. You may feel other symptoms as well.

It’s important to identify the symptoms and receive proper care early. Why? Because treating carpal tunnel syndrome sooner than later means the difference between symptoms remission and permanent misery. 

We get carpal tunnel syndrome when the median nerve (deep inside your wrist joint) is irritated. This is one of the main nerves of your hand and provides feeling to all fingers, except you little finger.

The irritation occurs when adjacent tissues inside the wrist become inflamed and swollen due to one of several reasons. The reasons are varied and include repetitive strain, trauma, and pregnancy. As the tissues swell, they exert pressure on the adjacent median nerve. That means the nerve gets pinched inside the wrist, producing all of the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. 

Carpal tunnel symptoms usually begins slowly, even unnoticeably. Actually, most patients think the early warning signs are merely due to an overworked or tired hand.

The first symptoms to appear are usually itching, burning, tingling, numbness or pain. Sometimes two or more of these can occur. You may also feel puffiness even though your hand and fingers appear normal.

The most common location of these symptoms are your thumb and middle fingers. Also, it’s most likely you feel these symptoms when your hand is resting, especially while trying to sleep. Many people are awakened by the need to shake out their hands, or hang their hand off the bed for relief.

With carpal tunnel's advancement, what seemed to be an occasional annoyance at night becomes progressively worse. Symptoms begin to occur more often and with more intensity. A sure sign of progression is when symptoms also begin to appear during the daytime. It usually occurs when you are bending or twisting your wrist, like when holding a frying pan or turning a doorknob. Common activities like gripping a steering wheel, holding a phone or using a pen causes symptoms to appear. 

Some people say that carpal tunnel feels like having shooting electric shocks when grasping items like a coffee mug. Some feel tingling or pain travelling up the forearm and into the shoulder.

Without treatment, carpal tunnel progresses because the median nerve is becomes more and more pinched (or crushed) as time goes on. The most common and noticeable symptom of progression into the severe stage is loss of your grip strength. For instance, it becomes difficult to perform tasks like holding a soda can, opening a jar, folding clothes or holding an infant. It’s also difficult to make a tight fist.

Carpal tunnel progression is also marked by a noticeable loss of pinch strength. You cannot easily use a pen, tie shoelaces or button a shirt. Dropping things is common due to weak muscles or the numbed ability to feel things. Manipulating small objects like coins or keys is difficult.

Another sign of more advanced carpal tunnel is hand clumsiness. For instance, you fumble with grocery items, doorknobs, car handles, phones, toothbrush, and eating utensils.

As carpal tunnel advances further, you have numbness and/or pain all of the time. It never goes away for a moment. You also begin to lose the ability to sense hot and cold temperatures, especially at your fingertips. In fact, many patients injure themselves (usually in the kitchen) because they scald their fingers without feeling it.

With advancement, you may also notice that your thumb muscles start to degenerate (atrophy). That means the normally-plumb muscles at the base of your thumb are getting flat and wrinkly. This greatly affects your ability to use your thumb for grasping.

Mild, moderate, and some severe stages of carpal tunnel syndrome are treatable - and even reversible. The degrees of success vary with the individual, and depending on which treatment option is used.

However, when carpal tunnel is left untreated, it eventually advances beyond the severe stage and reaches the “end stage”. At this point, treatment options are exhausted. That’s because your median nerve is permanently damaged. In fact, most surgeons will not attempt surgery at this stage because it's usually futile.

As a result of having a nearly-dead median nerve, loss of muscle mass at the base of your thumb is also permanent. In addition, you nearly completely lose the ability to feel differences between hot and cold temperatures. This is both inconvenient and dangerous.

At the end stage, your hand also is crushingly numb all of the time. Most people say their hand pain becomes "punishing". Patients describe the numbness and pain like having their hand permanently in a vice.

When the disorder is STILL left untreated, and your median nerve dies completely, something almost ironic happens. The pain starts to dissipates (to some degree) in some patients. That’s because the nerve fibers carrying pain signals also die. Yes, it's a minor relief, but cruelly, the numbness remains.

The end stage is when many patients begin to form a “claw hand”. That’s because the dead median nerve has no control over the fingers, allowing them to rest in their natural, half-closed or "claw" position. 

Certain occupations are known for causing repetitive stress injury. Of course, this results in a greater chance of having carpal tunnel syndrome. The high-risk occupations notorious for this disorder are:

• Transcriptionists
• Hair stylists
• Video gamers
• Graphic designers
• Dentists
• Dental hygienists
• Knitters and sewers
• Musicians
• Horse riders or trainers
• Fine artists
• Truck drivers
• Radiologists
• Sonographers
• Gardeners
• Housekeepers
• Janitors
• Heavy machine operators
• Vibrating power tool users
• Farmers
• Butchers
• Electronic assemblers
• Mechanics
• Data-entry clerks
• Assembly line workers

Aside from the high risk occupations above, you also increase the chances of getting carpal tunnel syndrome if you have the following issues. They include:

• Diabetes
• Being female
• Pregnancy
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Hypothyroidism
• Fractured wrist or hand
• Smoking
• Obesity
• Having a small body frame
• Emotional stress
  

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a progressive and relentless neurological disorder. As mentioned above, the absolute best weapon against its advancement is to catch it early, before it progresses. That's why you should see your doctor as soon as you recognize the symptoms.

If you cannot see your doctor, then you should perform this self test. It's highly reliable because it's the same test a doctor will perform in their office.

Remember, you may not just have a “tired hand”. Learn the symptoms of carpal tunnel so you can get a jump on the treatment that best fits your needs.

Early treatment options can be as simple as activity avoidance, rest, stretching exercise, and night bracing. As symptoms progress you might need more aggressive therapy, like steroid shots, hydrodissection, myofascial release massage or even surgery. But don’t let it get to that point. Remember that carpal tunnel usually progresses when it's left alone. And if it goes untreated, your miserable symptoms could become permanent.

Several other disorders cause symptoms that feel like carpal tunnel syndrome. In fact, they are the leading cause of a carpal tunnel misdiagnosis. The most common ones are:

• Flexor Tendonitis
• De Quervain’s tenosynovitis
• Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (test yourself here)
• Cervical Radiculopathy
  

Many people report having symptoms that “seem” to be carpal tunnel syndrome. But when assessed in more detail, it’s obvious the symptoms are due to different health problem. These include:

• Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy (or ATTR-CM; a rare heart problem)
• Rheumatoid Arthritis (in the hands)
• Neuropathy (a nerve problem)
• Ligament damage (in the wrist)
• Wrist trauma (like a fracture)
  

• Numbness, itching, pain, or tingling in your thumb and middle fingers
• Symptoms wake you up at night, and feeling the need to shake out your hands
• Puffy or swollen feeling in your fingers (but they look normal)
• Difficulty gripping or manipulating small objects
• Shooting electric shocks while grasping
• Frequently dropping things
  

• Pregnancy
• Using vibrating equipment
• Engaging in harmful activities like repetitive hand motion
• Cold weather
  

Carpal tunnel syndrome most often appears in people aged 25-45 and 60-85. It is less frequent in the 45-60 age range. 

It’s important to not just dismiss carpal tunnel symptoms as a “tired hand”. A tired hand usually resolves with a bit of rest. The difference is that (in the beginning) carpal tunnel feels like it’s worse while your hand is resting. Symptoms like numbness, pain, tingling, and burning often wake you from a dead sleep. That’s a sure sign it’s carpal tunnel and not a tired hand. As these symptoms occur during the daytime, and you lose grip strength, dexterity, and you start dropping things, then you know carpal tunnel is progressing.

Of course, the best way to get a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome is from your doctor. Your doctor can also rule out other disorders which may appear to be carpal tunnel syndrome. If you cannot see a doctor, you can take a self-test to determine if you have carpal tunnel syndrome. And if you have it, another self-test can tell you what degree of severity you have. 

There are two types of treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome: non-surgical and surgical. Non-surgical treatments are best when symptoms are milder and not well-advanced. Surgical treatments are used when all non-surgical options have failed. The best non-surgical and surgical treatments are discussed here.

Carpal tunnel syndrome affects millions of people. It happens because tissues swell and press on your median nerve. Early warning signs include numbness, burning, pain, and tingling. These are usually concentrated in your thumb and middle fingers. They also are most noticeable while trying to sleep. As the disorder progresses, other symptoms may also appear. These include shooting electric shocks, loss of grip strength and dexterity, as well as clumsiness. Symptoms also appear during the daytime while working with your hand. If left untreated, irreversible nerve damage and loss of muscle mass can occur. If you treat carpal tunnel syndrome early on, you have the best chances of eliminating it for good. But ignoring the symptoms can lead to catastrophic hand problems. This is why it’s crucial to identify the signs of carpal tunnel syndrome early, so you can get started on treatment quickly.