Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment in Delhi

If you are waking at night with numb, tingling hands that you have to shake out — that is carpal tunnel syndrome until proved otherwise, and it is very treatable.

At Sama Hospital — a NABH-accredited, doctor-owned hospital in South Delhi — most cases are treated without surgery. Where surgery is needed, carpal tunnel release is a day-care procedure under local anaesthesia, and the night symptoms usually settle within days.

The median nerve runs into the hand through a narrow tunnel at the wrist, alongside nine tendons, roofed over by a tough ligament. There is no spare room in there.

When the contents swell — or the tunnel narrows — the nerve is squeezed. The result is numbness, tingling and, eventually, weakness in the thumb, index and middle fingers.

• Numbness and tingling at night, in the thumb, index and middle fingers — the classic sign
• Waking to shake the hand out, or hang it over the side of the bed
• Dropping things; a weakening grip
• Tingling when holding a phone, reading a newspaper, or riding a scooter
• In advanced cases, wasting of the fleshy muscle at the base of the thumb

It is commoner in women, in pregnancy, in diabetes, and in thyroid disease — and those underlying conditions matter, because treating them sometimes treats the hand.

We start with a night splint that holds the wrist straight while you sleep. This sounds too simple to work. It works — because the wrist curls in sleep, and that curl is what compresses the nerve.

Activity modification, treating any underlying thyroid or diabetic problem, and in some cases a steroid injection, will settle a great many hands without an operation.

When symptoms persist despite proper non-surgical treatment — and, importantly, when nerve conduction studies show the nerve is actually being damaged rather than merely irritated.

Do not leave persistent numbness for years. Prolonged compression damages the median nerve permanently. Once the thumb muscle has wasted and sensation is lost, releasing the nerve stops things getting worse — but may not give you back what has already gone. That is the one real risk of waiting.

The ligament forming the roof of the tunnel is divided, which immediately takes the pressure off the nerve. Small incision, local anaesthesia, day-care. You go home the same day.

The night-time numbness usually settles within days, and the relief is often dramatic — patients describe the first full night’s sleep in years. The hand is used for light activity in two to three weeks, and grip strength returns over about six weeks.

What moves the figure: whether one hand or both; the anaesthesia used; and whether nerve conduction studies are done as part of the package.

We quote an all-inclusive package, confirmed after clinical assessment, with cashless treatment available for eligible insurance patients. See our cost estimate page.

Doctor-owned, NABH-accredited, in South Delhi since 1982, with nine orthopaedic consultants named on this page.

Most carpal tunnels do not need an operation — and we will tell you if yours is one of them. A doctor-owned hospital has no reason to do otherwise.

Because the wrist curls in sleep, raising pressure in the carpal tunnel and squeezing the median nerve. Waking to shake the hand out is the single most characteristic symptom.

Yes, in mild and moderate cases — a night splint is genuinely effective, along with activity change and sometimes a steroid injection. Surgery is for symptoms that persist, and for a nerve that is being damaged.

Prolonged compression damages the nerve permanently. Once the thumb muscle has wasted and sensation is lost, surgery stops further damage but may not restore what is gone.

Night numbness usually settles within days. Grip strength takes about six weeks. Where the nerve was already damaged, sensory recovery is slower and may be incomplete.

No. Day-care, small incision, usually under local anaesthesia. Home the same day.