Which fingers fall asleep
The individual fingers of the hand are each supplied by specific nerves. These nerves are responsible for making us feel things and for keeping our fingers flexible. The so-called ulnar nerve, which runs along the forearm, is responsible for the little finger and the outside of the ring finger.
For the inner side of the ring finger, the middle finger, the index finger and the thumb, the median nerve (also called central nerve) is responsible. The median nerve runs through the carpal tunnel. In carpal tunnel syndrome, there is a more or less pronounced pressure on the median nerve which leads to sensations of discomfort, numbness, tingling and loss of sensation.These symptoms then occur in the area supplied by the nerve, so that affected persons usually feel this at the beginning by falling asleep fingers of the affected hand.
Especially during the night, when the hand is in an unfavorable position, where the pressure on the nerve is increased, this symptom is favored. Patients then wake up in the morning with their fingers already asleep. At the beginning of the disease, the symptoms disappear again relatively quickly in the course of the day. However, if the pressure on the nerves increases or is accompanied by damage, it is possible that the four affected fingers fall asleep more and more frequently and further symptoms occur.
Therapy/treatment
In the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome, the first step is to assess the stage of the disease and the limitations caused by carpal tunnel syndrome. Taking into account the cause of the disease, the patient’s general state of health and age, special circumstances, such as pregnancy or chronic illness, a suitable therapy method is selected. As a rule, the carpal tunnel syndrome is then first treated conservatively.
The main part of the treatment consists of physiotherapeutic measures with different treatment approaches. These include, for example, physiotherapy with a combination of different exercises to strengthen and stretch the wrist structures, heat applications to loosen the muscles in surrounding areas and cold applications to get a grip on the pain in an already existing inflammation. Special massages for loosening the tissue and special grip techniques in the context of manual therapy to loosen tendons and ligaments and to move the wrist passively or the application of special tapes, which are intended to support and stabilize the wrist on the one hand, but also protect it from external influences and partially immobilize it. If the conservative therapy methods do not lead to the desired success, an operation can be useful. This is a minimally invasive procedure that can be performed on an outpatient basis.