Median nerve
The nerve serving the thumb, index and middle fingers, which passes through the carpal tunnel at the wrist; rope teachers flag the wrist as its sensitive point.
MedlinePlus describes damage to the median nerve near the wrist as a nerve disorder affecting movement or sensation in the hand, with carpal tunnel syndrome as a common form. The usual cause is entrapment where the nerve passes through a narrow space under a wrist ligament. Symptoms include burning, numbness or tingling in the thumb, index and middle fingers and part of the ring finger, and a weak hand that drops things or struggles to grasp. In rope teaching, the ESINEM Shibari Classes course singles out the wrist as the median nerve’s sensitive point, especially in people who already have carpal tunnel problems. A 2023 Cureus case series on rope bondage nerve injuries, where most cases involved the radial nerve, notes that the median and ulnar nerves can also be affected by compression in the upper arm.