One of the body parts most often used by housewives who do housework during the holidays is the wrist. That’s why they often complain of wrist pain and numbness for several days after each holiday. However, if this pain persists for a long time, you should suspect’wrist tunnel syndrome’, which is common in women.
The carpal tunnel is a small passage formed by bones and ligaments in the area connecting the wrist and hand. Here are the tendons that allow you to use your fingers and nerves called the median nerve. If the wrist is excessively used, the tendon in the carpal tunnel becomes swollen or inflamed and compresses the median nerve, causing numbness in the hand and loss of strength in the wrist, leading to carpal tunnel syndrome.
According to statistics from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of carpal tunnel syndrome patients from 129,000 in 2010 was 17,066 in 2019, an increase of 36.3%. In particular, carpal tunnel syndrome has a particularly high incidence among housewives as it is called’housewife disease’. Of the 17,066 patients with carpal tunnel syndrome in 2019, 133,317 women, or 75.1%, were women. Among them, the number of patients in women aged 30 to 60 was 85,029, accounting for 48% of the total.
The causes of carpal tunnel syndrome include labor that puts a lot of energy on the wrist, twisting the wrist, and keeping the wrist bent for a long time. In the early stages, symptoms of sore wrists or numbness in the palms appear, and the pain may worsen when the hands are raised or sleeping at night. If carpal tunnel syndrome is left untreated for a long period of time, it is advisable to treat it at an early stage as it may lead to weakening of the hand and atrophy of the palm of the hand.
Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome proceeds with conservative therapy and surgical therapy depending on the symptoms. When nerve damage is not severe, conservative therapy such as drug therapy, steroid injection, or use of an orthosis is performed. However, if the nerve damage is severe or the symptoms do not improve even with conservative therapy, surgery to open the ligaments covering the wrist tunnel may be performed.
“If you need to use your wrist in the same posture for a long time, it is desirable to shake your hands or massage them frequently,” said Yun Hyeong-moon, manager of the Seran Hospital Orthopedic Surgery Department. In the case of dropping, it is necessary to consult a specialist.”
Reporter Lee Ji-won [email protected]
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