How to Determine If You Have Tendinitis or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis both produce similar symptoms, including pain, burning, aching, tingling or numbness in the hand, wrist or arm. But they are different conditions, so it is important that you know which is causing your symptoms to effectively treat the condition.

Things You'll Need

• Comfortable chair at a table in a quiet room with no distractions
• Pencil or pen and piece of paper to record results
• Medium-sized cloth towel

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Instructions

Tests

• 1

  Flex your wrist with your hand and fingers held in a straight line while your arm is resting on a towel on a table. Flex gently and as far as you can without causing yourself pain. In other words, curl your fingers as close to your wrist joint as possible and hold the position for one minute. Record your sensations in a short sentence.

• 2

  Tap the skin over the crease in your wrist while holding your hand and fingers straight. Tap lightly, left to right, and back again. Record your sensations.

• 3

  Apply pressure to the crease in your wrist with your opposite thumb with your hand and fingers held straight. Apply pressure firmly across the entire crease and hold it for 30 seconds. Relax for one minute, then apply firm pressure again toward the palm side of your wrist crease, just forward of the crease, for another 30 seconds. Record your sensations in a short sentence.

• 4

  Tap your forearm tendons with two fingers from your other hand. Specifically, tap your flexor tendons just below the crease in your wrist. These are the rope-like structures on the palm side of your forearm. Make sure you keep your hand and fingers extended straight while you tap, doing the exercise several times. Record your sensations in a short sentence.

• 5

  Tap your forearm muscles beginning mid-way up your forearm to your elbow with two fingers from your other hand. Make sure you keep your hand and fingers extended straight and tap vigorously and randomly all around the muscle area. Record your sensations in a short sentence.

Evaluation

• 6

  Review your recorded results. Since your sensations are still fresh in your mind, ensure your descriptions are complete.

• 7

  If you recorded inexact or vague sensations, go back to that test and perform it again. It's fine if you recorded no unpleasant sensation.

• 8

  Circle on your paper the tests in which you recorded a feeling of numbness, your symptoms suddenly appeared or if they became worse for each test.

• 9

  If you circled any of the first three tests it indicates you may have carpal tunnel syndrome.

• 10

  If only the last two tests are circled then you may have tendinitis.