Statistically speaking, carpal tunnel syndrome in women is more common. Why this is the case could be due to a variety of reasons. Firstly, women have smaller wrists. So, they have less space in the carpal tunnel to begin with. There's less tolerance for swelling inside the tunnel. Smaller wrists, smaller tunnel, and then less tolerance for increased volume inside the tunnel. So, if the tendons swell from computer work, obviously there's less space and these tendons press on the nerve.
Secondly, women are often doing a lot of manual work, which would precipitate carpal tunnel. Housework, for example: shopping, packing, squeezing towels, doing laundry, folding clothes, all repetitive tasks. And that, again, puts them at risk. So, the reasons are anatomical and occupational, making women more susceptible to carpal tunnel syndrome. There also is a third contributing factor as well: hormonal changes.
These are probably the top three reasons why I think women get it more often. Regarding the hormonal element, there are certain periods in their lives like the hormonal changes of pregnancy making swelling of the soft tissues much more common. So all the elastic, soft and smooth muscles in the body tend to relax then. Their hips get bigger, the joints are loose during pregnancy that allows the pelvis to expand to accommodate the baby.
These are the effects of estrogen during pregnancy, this allows fluid to leak. This is how women get fluid retention around their ankles, they get swollen fingers, and they can get swelling around their tendons which can precipitate. These swollen tendons go through the carpal tunnel, pressing on the nerve causing numbness in what we know as carpal tunnel syndrome.
I think the combination of these three factors results in a higher incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome in women.
