Carpel Tunnel Syndrome is a painful condition that affects the hand and arms caused by a pitched nerve in the wrist. The contributing factors to the syndrome can be anatomy of a patient’s wrist, certain underlying health problems and other patterns of hand use.

Causes, & Risk Factors

The median nerve delivers feeling and movement to the “thumb side” of the hand – the part of your hand that includes your palm, thumb, index finger, middle finger, and thumb side of the ring finger.

The region in your wrist where the nerve enters the hand is referred to as the carpal tunnel. This tunnel is usually narrow, therefore any swelling can pinch the nerve and cause discomfort, pain or numbness.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is found in those who use their hands and wrists in a repetitive activity. Today, typing on a computer, laptop or tablet keyboard is probably the most common cause of carpal tunnel, but certainly other repetitive activities will also cause carpal tunnel syndrome.   The condition occurs most often in people 30 to 60 years old, and is more common in women than men.

Dr. Kent Lerner and the staff at Metropolitan Orthopedics provide New Jersey orthopedic patients with excellent orthopedic care and joint injury treatment. Dr. Lerner specializes in ACL Reconstruction, Ankle Surgery, Arthroscopic Surgery, Carpal Tunnel Surgery, Foot Surgery, Hip Replacement, Joint Preservation Surgery, Knee Replacement, Rotator Cuff Surgery, and Shoulder Replacement. Metropolitan Orthopedics is conveniently located in North Arlington, New Jersey in Bergen County, NJ; minutes from Manhattan.

Rotator cuff injuries are common injuries that occur to the muscles and tendons that connect your upper arm bone with your shoulder blade. The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles that hold your upper arm bone in place in your shoulder socket and help move and stabilize the shoulder joint. A rotator cuff injury includes any type of damage or irritation to the muscles or tendons in this area due to injury, overuse, or aging. Common causes of rotator cuff injuries include repetitive arm activities, specifically “overhead activities” such as lifting, placing items on high shelves or throwing a baseball.
Rotator cuff injuries may result in significant pain and inflammation, which can limit or disable the shoulder’s range of motion. Injury may range in severity from a mild strain with no permanent damage to a partial or complete tear of the muscle. Tears of the muscle require surgery for repair. Patients undergoing this type of surgery have a high rate of recovery with improved function and relief of pain.
There are several different techniques commonly used to repair rotator cuff tears, including arthroscopic repair and open repair. An open repair involves a traditional open surgical incision of several centimeters, while an arthroscopic repair involves only small incisions. Your orthopedic surgeon will take into account the size of your tear, your anatomy, and other factors when deciding on the type of procedure to perform. Patients have rated all repair methods the same for pain relief, improvement of strength, and overall satisfaction.
Dr. Lerner and the Metro Orthopedic team specialize in providing comprehensive, state of the art care to patients with rotator cuff injury. Each patient receives a highly personalized treatment plan that incorporates the latest surgical advancements in rotator cuff repair.