Carpal tunnel

[LATW]

Anyone have carpal tunnel and ms?

I was dx'd with Carpal tunnel in both hands today.

He said that MS can sometimes be a cause of carpal tunnel because I may be using my hands in a different way.

I had to wear braces on both hands now.  they go very nicely with my AFO's! ;}

LA

[kwarendorf]

Hi Dawn - Welcome to our group.

This is a pretty old thread. It was last updated over 3 years ago. Most of the posters no longer visit. I didn't want you to think they were ignoring you :-)

Kyle

[DawnFowler]

I was diagnosed with MS 4 years ago, about 3 years ago I began having CT symptoms, they got progressively worse. A year & a half ago my neurologist sent me for an EMG he said I had only mild CT on my right hand. I left there frustrated because I would wake up with excruciating pain, and for it to only be mild didn't match up with my symptoms. So I chalked it up to being just another one of my long list of MS symptoms. These last couple of months I have hit a breaking point with the constant waking up every 2-3 hours at night with pain that brings tears to my eyes. I am an RN, and work in a surgical center and was discussing my symptoms with one of our hand surgeons. He said that those are two completely different beasts. Today he did an EMG and it showed me to have SEVERE/SEVERE (axon damage) carpal tunnel on my right, and MODERATE/SEVERE (myelin deterioration) on my left. I am having surgery on thursday for my right hand and the fowolling Thursday for my left hand. In my case my MS masked my carpal tunnel and now I have permanent irreversible damage on my dominate hand and unknown (until after my surgery) on my left. So yes it can happen probably rare but possible.

[COBOB]

You can check on the national MS site, but I think the last I saw, there is not relationship between anesthesia and/or surgery and relapse.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/living-with-multiple-sclerosis/getting-the-care-you-need/doctors-visit/anesthesia-and-surgery/index.aspx

Even the relationship between stress and relapse has come into question and stress is only  considered a slight risk in triggering relapse.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16900759

Also see:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/living-with-multiple-sclerosis/healthy-living/stress/download.aspx?id=16

Bob

[maestro1959]

My carpel tunnel syndrome is linked to my MS only in that I developed it from the way I grip the handrail on my wheelchair.  My Primary Care Physician is hesitating sending me to a hand surgeon because she is concerned that the surgery may cause an MS flare.

[Ojibajo]

Braces AND AFOs....sounds sexy! You should wear them with my compression stockings! That would look REALLY hot!

I supposedly have had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome for about 10-15 years but I am starting to think that my CTS symptoms (weakness, numbness, tingling, etc) were actually MS symptoms, which is why  my "carpal tunnel syndrome" never got better or went away.

[twopack]

Stats and theories aside, I had/have both.  An EMG showed mild carpel tunnel in my non-dominant hand several years back but I wasn't having CT type symptoms.  It was never treated and hasn't caused any problems.  I did have carpel tunnel corrective surgery on my dominant hand back in 2000.  That's all I know.

Mary

[COBOB]

Back to that old saw: MS is a disease of the brain and spinal cord.  Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a peripheral nerve (Medial Nerve) that is impinged (pinched) in the carpal tunnel of the wrist.  The cause is body mechanics (mostly related to poor body mechanics while using keyboards and mice.)  It is a big jump to say MS causes CTS by changing the way you use your hands.  Consider all the people with CTS that do not have MS and the people with MS that do not have carpal tunnel.  

This is one of the cause and effect things.  If you look at all the people with CTS and then the smaller cohort of people with MS and CTS vs. people with MS without CTS , I would bet that there would be little evidence to support a cause relationship for MS leading to carpal tunnel syndrome. Based on what I know about CTS, there will be a stronger correlation of CTS to computer users than CTS to people with MS.

Bob

[supermum_ms]

She's wrapped in p l a s t i c! Lol sorry maybe not that funny, seriously how do they expect you to function with aids on everything?

I do remember this q being asked before and a few people saying they were dx with carpal tunnel prior to the dx of MS and some the reverse of that, might be worth looking through the archives.

Personally i haven't been dx with carpal tunnel, my brother has but since then he's been dx with peripheral neuropathy, i think they might have dropped it because all those problems are now directed to his P/N. I think the sx are similar though i'm really not sure. I'm sure someone else better able to respond will see this soon.

Cheers...........JJ