Acupuncture for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome can wake you at night with numb, tingling fingers and make typing, gripping and fine tasks frustrating. Acupuncture is used alongside splints and other treatments to help ease symptoms, and early research suggests it can improve how the median nerve works. Our practitioners have been treating pain in London for 25 years.

Book an initial consultation or call 0207 935 2030 for a free 15-minute chat.

What causes carpal tunnel syndrome?

The median nerve runs through a narrow channel in the wrist called the carpal tunnel. When the space gets tighter, often from swelling, repetitive hand use, pregnancy, diabetes, an underactive thyroid or arthritis, the nerve is squeezed. This causes tingling, numbness and pain in the thumb and first fingers, typically worse at night.

See your GP if symptoms are constant, if your hand feels weak, or if the muscle at the base of your thumb is wasting. These can be signs of more severe nerve compression that may need a nerve test or surgery. Read about related problems on our repetitive strain injury and arthritis pages.

How acupuncture can help

For mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome, we use acupuncture alongside a wrist splint and changes to how you work. Many patients come to us hoping to settle night-time symptoms and avoid or delay injections or surgery.

We place fine needles around the wrist and forearm and often use gentle electro-acupuncture, the approach most studied for this condition. We’ll also look at posture, workstation set-up and other factors that may be adding to the problem, and tell you honestly if we think you need a specialist opinion.

Researchers think acupuncture may work partly by improving nerve function at the wrist and changing how the brain processes signals from the hand. The exact mechanisms are still being studied.

What the research shows

  • Maeda et al., 2017 (Brain) — 80 people with carpal tunnel syndrome had 16 sessions over 8 weeks. Real electro-acupuncture improved median nerve function and brain mapping of the fingers more than sham, and these changes were linked to lasting symptom relief at 3 months.
  • Dong et al., 2023 (Frontiers in Neuroscience) — 16 trials and 1,025 people. Acupuncture added to standard care improved symptoms and nerve conduction, though the authors rated the evidence low certainty and called for better trials.

Research on acupuncture for carpal tunnel syndrome is still developing. Results vary between people, and acupuncture is not a replacement for medical assessment.

What to expect

Your first appointment lasts an hour. We take a full history, look at any nerve test results or reports you bring, and agree a plan with you. Treatment uses very fine, single-use needles around the wrist, forearm and elsewhere, left in for 15 to 20 minutes. Where suitable we use electro-acupuncture.

Most people start with weekly sessions and we review progress together after four to six. Initial consultations start from £80; see clinics and fees for details.

Why The London Acupuncture Clinic

  • 25 years treating patients in London
  • Degree-qualified practitioners who work alongside GPs and consultants, with close links to physiotherapists and chiropractors
  • Open seven days a week, with early-morning and evening appointments
  • Receipts for insurance claims on request

Early trials suggest acupuncture, especially electro-acupuncture, can improve symptoms and nerve function in mild to moderate cases when used alongside standard care. We’ll assess you first and tell you honestly if a specialist opinion would be better.

Most people have a course of six to eight weekly sessions, reviewed after the first four. In the main trial, people had two sessions a week for eight weeks.

The needles are about the width of a hair. Most people feel a brief tingle or dull ache as a needle settles, then very little. Electro-acupuncture feels like a gentle pulsing.

Yes. A night splint is one of the most useful things you can do, and acupuncture works alongside it. Keep any splint, exercises or medication your GP or physiotherapist has recommended.

Yes. Acupuncture fits alongside steroid injections and can be used while you wait for surgery. Tell us your dates and we’ll plan around them.

Book online or call 0207 935 2030. Not sure if we can help? Ask for a free 15-minute telephone chat.

Related: Repetitive strain injury · Tennis elbow · Neck pain · Pain relief

Written by The London Acupuncture Clinic’s practitioner team.