Conditions of the Hand and Forearm

Today in this video, we want to go over three conditions of the hands and forearm. There are other obvious conditions of the hands or forearm, but we’re just going to highlight these three today and go over them talk about some of the causes if they’re known and descriptions of them, things like that.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

The first one we are going to begin with is probably one of the most common. It’s called carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome has to do with median nerve. It comes down out of the forearm and into the hand, giving sensation and helping you control the thumb and the first three fingers on the palm side here.

It comes through the wrist through an opening, the carpal opening, where there are ligaments and bone structures, and it comes in and does this. Now, due to various trauma that can occur here through repetitive use, abuse, or a blow there, repetitive actions, overuse, these sorts of things, produces swelling in this area.

As the swelling occurs through that opening through which the nerve passes, it pinches on that nerve. That pinching motion causes numbness, tingling, and even pain.

It’s the median nerve as it comes in on the underside here through the wrists into the hand that, through that narrow opening about the size of your thumb with the carpal ligaments and other structures there, as they swell, it puts pressure on that nerve and causes the tingling numbness and pain.

This is carpal tunnel syndrome. The good news is that, even though it’s very common and the symptoms are annoying, it’s very treatable. The next one we want to go over are ganglion cysts. Ganglion cysts are benign cysts, swellings that show up on the tendons.

They can occur elsewhere in the body, but they’re most noticeable in the hands of the wrist, because the tendons are so close to the surface of the skin. It’s more of an annoyance than anything else as you can feel them there and they show up as lumps.

Ganglion Cysts

Other’s go, “What’s that?” You say, “Oh, a ganglion cyst.” They are benign and they can be broken up and dissolved back into the body with time. Those are ganglion insists. The last one I’m going to go over is palmar fasciitis. This is when the fascia in the palm shrink and contract for unknown reasons.

We’re not entirely sure why it is, but it tends to look bad and it is painful. This is palmar fasciitis. The fascia in the palm shrink and contract. Ganglion cysts are benign swellings on the tendons. Then, of course, the most common one, carpal tunnel syndrome.

The median nerve is pinched and compressed due to swelling of the carpal ligaments. This has just been a brief overview of three different conditions in the hand and forearm, where they come from, and in this case we’re not sure how they can be treated, various things like that.

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