CTC can be caused by a variety of factors, including fractures or dislocations around the carpal joints, swelling or aponeurotic inflammation (due to an infection, inflammatory disease, or trauma), or compression of the nerves due to depression caused by tumors in the carpal tunnel. This may lead to pain or numbness in the wrist area.
In some cases, patients can develop CTS due to the nonunion of a fracture. In such a case, patients may not experience any pain at first, but gradually feel CTS symptoms over time. Diseases that cause synovitis, such as rheumatoid arthritis or gout, may also cause swelling of the flexor tendon synovium in the carpal tunnel, leading to compression of the median nerve.

CTS patients often suffer from pain in the palm, thumb, index finger, and middle finger area, or numbness, tingling, and aching sensations. These symptoms may appear in some or all of the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and ring finger.
In severe cases, numbness and pain may spread to the elbow, shoulder, and arm.
CTS is usually seen in older middle-aged women, where it often leads to sleeping disorders. In addition, some CTS patients fall into the cycle where pain subsides when they massage their hands, but returns when they stop massaging their hands.