Anyone who has ever experienced numbness in their hands has probably wondered at one time or another if that numbness might be a warning sign of carpal tunnel syndrome.

The syndrome itself has gotten a lot of publicity during the past decade, and an expert with OU Physicians says many women might not realize that they are at greater risk for the ailment simply because of their gender.

“The disorder itself seems to be essentially the same in both men and women as far as how it presents and treatment for it,” said Dr. Thomas Lehman, an orthopedic specialist with OU Physicians. “It does definitely seem to occur more often in women and nobody is completely sure why that is.”

Lehman said up to 80 percent of people who have carpal tunnel syndrome are women.

“There are probably some anatomical and possibly even physiological factors associated with being a woman that cause you to be more likely to get it,” he said. “It’s also interesting that women who are pregnant are more commonly affected than women who are not. So it is not uncommon to find that if you really talk to women with carpal tunnel syndrome, they started having symptoms when they were pregnant.”

That was the case for Lori Gibbany, who needs the use her hands for a variety of activities at home and on-the-job.

“It started when I was pregnant. I didn’t think much, you know I was fat, my hands were swollen, so I didn’t think (anything) about it,” Gibbany said. “Okay so its something to do with that and it will go away.”

But her symptoms only got worse, and work started getting harder.

“My fingers would go numb and sometimes they just wouldn’t work,” she said. “Like you would tell them to do something and they just wouldn’t move.”

Gibbany was referred to Lehman. He said it is not unusual for women to develop symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome while pregnant.

“If you look at all pregnancies it would be a small percentage of those women who get carpal tunnel syndrome,” he pointed out, “but carpal tunnel syndrome is very well known to occur in pregnancy and we think it’s because of the hormones of pregnancy.”

He explained carpal tunnel syndrome has gotten a lot of press, but many people still don’t understand what causes it.

“The carpal tunnel is a tunnel in the wrist,” he said. “It is formed by the bones that make up the back of the hand and a ligament that runs across the palm. The space between these bones and the ligament is the carpal tunnel. If anything swells or becomes irritated the space inside the tunnel can’t change because the bones and the ligament are rigid so something inside has to give. The softest thing inside the tunnel is the nerve. So as swelling occurs, the nerve becomes compressed and patients begin to experience symptoms. That is what we refer to as carpal tunnel syndrome."

Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include numbness and tingling in the thumb, index, middle finger and sometimes ring finger as well that is often worse at night. While there can sometimes be pain, often, there is not.

According to Lehman, the good news is that the symptoms that appear in pregnancy often improve without treatment; and when they don’t, there is help. It is important, though, to get that help sooner rather than later.

“The longer you allow the pressure to be maintained on the nerve the more permanent the changes on the nerve are likely to become,” he said.

Lehman and his colleagues at OU Physicians stress that repetitive use of the hands with the same kind of motion, as with typing; can certainly increase your risk of carpal tunnel syndrome. However, other factors like being a woman, being overweight and illnesses such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis also increase one’s risk.

When caught early, he pointed out non-invasive treatments may be sufficient to relieve a patient’s symptoms.

“Choosing the best treatment option often depends upon how long the symptoms have been present. Generally, there are a few things we might try before considering surgery,” Lehman said. “The first thing I recommend is modifying their activities if at all possible. A lot of times in the work place, they are forced to either type all day or be on an assembly line where they are performing the same repetitive task over and over again. That kind of repetitive motion can increase your risk of carpal tunnel syndrome. However, if you can break that activity up or just have rest periods between different jobs, that alone can sometimes be enough to help alleviate the symptoms.”

Wearing a splint that keeps the wrist in a position that tends to decrease the pressure inside the carpal tunnel during the activity can also be helpful, he said.

“The other thing that I sometimes recommend is a steroid injection in the carpal tunnel around the nerve,” Lehman said. “For most people, it doesn’t completely cure them, but it may offer relief for several months, which might help delay the need for surgery or avoid it altogether.”

When those treatments are not sufficient to alleviate symptoms, surgery can be done to relieve the pressure on the nerve.

Under Lehman’s care, Gibbany tried less invasive treatments; then opted for surgery. As a result, she said her hands have now become her allies again, helping her accomplish her goals both at home and at work.

For more information on carpal tunnel syndrome, its symptoms and treatment options, call the OU Physicians hotline at (405) 271-2222.