The hand nerves, which are responsible for the sensitive and motoric supply of the hand, originate from a nerve plexus from which there is one for each side of the body. This plexus is known in medical terminology as the brachial plexus and originates with the associated nerve fibers from the spinal cord segments of the 5th-7th cervical spine and the 1st thoracic vertebra. (C5- Th1).
Various individual nerves branch off from the nerve bundle, which in addition to the hand nerves also give off nerves to the neck, shoulder and arm. The nerves for the arm merge in their course into the nerves for the hand supply. These important structures include the three hand nerves: they extend from the nerve network in the neck through the arm, where they supply the muscles and the skin with sensitive nerve tissue, and their end branches extend into the hand.
- Median nerve
- Radial nerve
- Ulnar nerve
Carpal Tunnel
On the way of the three big hand nerves towards the hand, they pass under a rough and tight band of connective tissue. This band is called the retinaculum musculum flexorum. It delimits an upward space just before the wrist. This space, known as the carpal tunnel (Canalis carpalis), is a passageway for the tendons of the hand muscles, the thumb tendon and the median nerve.
Pain in the hand
If hand nerves are damaged in various ways, the affected hand may experience pain and sensitivity disorders. The manifestation of pain in hand injuries can manifest itself in different ways. Is the pain mild or severe, acute or has it already lasted longer?
How exactly does the pain feel, pulling, burning, stabbing, knocking? Is the pain limited to one area of the hand, e.g. a finger, or does the pain radiate into the forearm or to the shoulder? Do I feel the pain permanently or only when pressure is applied or during movement of the wrist or individual fingers?
The localization and severity of the pain can allow conclusions to be drawn about the location and form of the injury to a nerve. Pain or loss of sensitivity may indicate damage to a sensitive part of a hand nerve. If movement in the wrist or individual fingers is impaired, a motor nerve branch has probably been damaged. Since the three nerves of the hand, radial, median and ulnar, each supply certain parts of the hand with sensory and motor functions, it is possible to roughly assign a pain that can be localized quite precisely to one of the nerves. However, pain in the hand can also originate from other structures, e.g. pain is frequent when the wrist is overstressed.
