When Your Hand Goes Numb, Is It Carpal Tunnel or Something Else Entirely?

If you’ve been experiencing numbness, tingling, or pain in your hands and arms, you’re likely wondering what’s causing these uncomfortable symptoms. While carpal tunnel syndrome is often the first condition that comes to mind, there’s another culprit that’s frequently overlooked: cervical nerve impingement, also known as cervical radiculopathy. Understanding the differences between these two conditions is crucial for getting the right treatment and finding lasting relief.

Understanding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve becomes compressed as it travels through the wrist. This nerve controls feeling and sensation in the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and part of the ring finger, causing numbness, tingling, pain, and sometimes weakness in these specific areas. The pinky and remaining part of the ring finger are usually spared.

Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include tingling and numbness in the palm, thumb, or first two fingers, especially during the night or in the morning, and symptoms are usually worse at night or with repetitive activity with that hand and wrist. Many people describe the sensation as making them want to “shake out” their hand, and if you need to shake your wrist to regain feeling, you might have carpal tunnel syndrome.

What Is Cervical Nerve Impingement?

Cervical radiculopathy, often referred to as a pinched nerve, occurs when a nerve root in your neck becomes compressed or irritated, causing hand and arm symptoms due to compression or irritation of the nerve roots exiting the spine in the neck. These nerve roots branch off from the spinal cord and travel down to your shoulders, arms, and hands, which is why you may experience numbness, tingling, or pain in your wrists and hands like those with carpal tunnel syndrome.

In younger individuals, cervical radiculopathy might be due to a herniated disc that pushes on the nerve, while in older adults, it’s more commonly caused by degenerative changes in the spine, such as arthritis or bone spurs, which can narrow the openings where the nerve roots exit the spinal column.

Key Differences in Symptoms

While both conditions can cause similar symptoms, there are important distinctions that can help identify the true source of your discomfort:

Location of Pain

Since carpal tunnel syndrome and cervical radiculopathy can both affect the median nerve, it’s important to note one key difference: carpal tunnel syndrome pain will only affect the hand and wrist. Pain proximal to the wrist is more likely due to a cervical compression, though it is possible for compression in the carpal tunnel to cause pain in the forearm.

Neck Movement Effects

When hand symptoms are caused by cervical radiculopathy, patients often have concurrent neck pain, stiffness and decreased range of motion, and pain, numbness and tingling in the hand are often reproduced with neck extension and rotation or prolonged sitting with poor posture. If the position of your head/neck changes how you feel in your hand, the problem could be coming from your neck.

Pattern of Symptoms

Cervical radiculopathy patients often complain of electric, shooting pain down their arm(s), and may feel numbness or tingling in specific parts of their arm(s) or hand(s). It might be cervical radiculopathy if the pain starts in your neck and travels down your arm, or if you have increased pain when you turn your head or extend your neck.

The Importance of Proper Diagnosis

Because carpal tunnel syndrome and cervical radiculopathy share overlapping symptoms, proper diagnosis is critical, which is why orthopedic specialists perform comprehensive exams and nerve studies when patients complain of hand and wrist pain or numbness. If it’s hard to tell the difference with just a history and physical exam alone, a test called an electromyogram (EMG) can be very helpful in making the correct diagnosis by helping to identify the location of the compressed nerve causing the symptoms in the hand.

Not all hand numbness is carpal tunnel syndrome, and getting an accurate diagnosis is essential for effective treatment. A severe or chronic carpal tunnel syndrome may cause symptoms extending all the way up to the neck and a cervical radiculopathy may cause symptoms extending all the way down to the hand, making professional evaluation even more important.

Treatment Approaches

The treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome and cervical radiculopathy follow a similar course but it is important to make sure you are treating the correct condition, with conservative treatment tried first for both diagnoses.

For carpal tunnel syndrome, treatment may include a night splint that keeps your wrist still while sleeping and anti-inflammatory medications or steroid injections to reduce inflammation around the nerve.

For cervical radiculopathy, conservative management is very effective, with treatments including cervical traction, chiropractic adjustments, soft tissue therapy, modalities, stretches and exercises to improve posture.

When to Seek Professional Help

If you’re experiencing persistent numbness, tingling, or pain in your hands or arms, it’s important to seek professional evaluation. For residents in the Grand Rapids area, Pinched Nerve Grand Rapids treatment is available through experienced practitioners who can help determine whether your symptoms are coming from carpal tunnel syndrome or cervical nerve impingement.

At Chiropractic First, Dr. James Heath aims to provide patients in Wyoming, Grand Rapids, and Kentwood with comprehensive care and a focus on health and wellness, offering solutions that resolve the underlying cause of pain rather than just managing symptoms. Dr. Heath opened his practice in Wyoming, Michigan in 1998 and has spent over 25 years helping thousands of patients find lasting relief through personalized, evidence-based chiropractic care.

The Bottom Line

Don’t let hand and arm numbness control your daily life. Whether your symptoms stem from carpal tunnel syndrome or cervical nerve impingement, early intervention is key to preventing long-term complications and achieving lasting relief. The key is starting treatment early before permanent nerve damage occurs, and even if you’ve had symptoms for a while, chiropractic care can still provide significant relief and prevent the condition from worsening.

Remember, accurate diagnosis is the first step toward effective treatment. If simple self-tests like checking whether neck movements affect your hand symptoms suggest cervical involvement, or if your symptoms follow the classic carpal tunnel pattern, seek professional evaluation to get the targeted treatment you need for lasting relief.