1% score
left hand -
Hi so obviously at the moment my appointment with Dr Bland has been cancelled to have tests to see if I have carpel tunnel or not. GP at my surgery suggested its a likely problem with my wrist, I get numbness, unable to grip things, pain is there constantly but the pain doesn't bother me as much as I have a high pain threshold. Its the numbness and the fact I cannot grip things without spilling them on the floor all the time that is more frustrating, I have been using a splint that my GP advised me to buy from the chemist which helps especially at work typing on key boards. But its still not helping with the numbness in my hand. I have been using paracetamol and ibuprofen, but have changed ibuprofen to naproxen to help a little more with the pain and numbness sensation. These do help a little but not for very long. I dont understand upon completing the questionnaire it says I have 1% chance of having Carpal Tunnel syndrome? If it's not Carpal Tunnel then what is it?
Your symptom pattern is not reeally typical of CTS and you are in an age group where the disorder is uncommon outside pregnancy so I can see why the score here would be low. Of course that does not mean that there is no chance of this being CTS, or at least partly CTS, but the vast majority of people we test with scores like this do not show any evidence of CTS on testing. Other possibilities include a variety of tendon problems,, trouble with the nerves at shoulder and neck level, and several more widespread neurological and rheumatological disoders which can present with predominant upper limb symptoms sometimes. It also has to be said that some upper limb symptoms remain undiagnosable despite our best efforts. It's difficult to be sure who it would be best to consult first - the options include hand surgery, rheumatology and neurology. If there is demonstrable weakness of the hand muscles I would be inclined to go for neurology, otherwise the hand clinic might be the best place to start. Unfortunately someone has to be able to examine your hands to decide whether there is any definite weakness (dropping things a lot can also be due to sensory and coordination problems). It's probably only worth considering my kind of testing after one of those clinics have had a chance to look at you. In the current climate a lot of those clinics are carrying out phone and video consultations and yours is case where I think you really need to see the hands in person I'm afraid.JB