Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Filed under: Health and Fitness
Do you wake because your hands are numb or hurting? Does relief come when you shake them a bit to get the feeling back? In the daytime do your hands feel like pins and needles? You may be suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and you are not alone.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS for short) is the most common repetitive motion injury. It costs American Industry between $4.5 & $100 billion dollars annually (1). People from all walks of life are affected.
Symptoms include numbness, tingling, nighttime pain and weakness in your hands. The cause of CTS is impingement of the median nerve at the wrist however CTS like symptoms can also occur when there is impingement to this nerve at the spine and/or the elbow.
The mechanism at any of these three locations is that either the hole that the nerve passes through gets smaller (called a subluxation) or the nerve itself gets too big for the hole (called neuritis).
There are 8 ways to fix most CTS. Many of these options are used simultaneously:
-Supplementation. Certain vitamins have been shown to decrease neuritis or the inflammation of nerves.(2)
-Diet. Decrease your intake of junk food, especially those high in sugar, processed wheat and salt. This decreases neuritis.
-Ergonomics. If a flexion or extension of the wrist or long term contraction of the elbow shoulder or neck is the cause then find a different way of performing that action.
-Proper stretching before activity and the strengthening of all the muscles involved. These actions harden the susceptible tissues to CTS damage.
-Utilize cock up splints on your wrists. These hold the hands in a position that optimizes the dimensions of the carpal tunnel and can provide temporary relief.
-Acupuncture. This procedure is effective in relaxing the muscles and the tendons around the carpal tunnel. (2)
-Chiropractic. Manipulation of the bones at the spine, elbow and or wrist. This is called an adjustment and it physically removes the subluxation that impedes the flow of nervous energy to the median nerve.(3)
I have treated hundreds of patients with CTS and can count on one hand the number of people that have not responded favorably using Chiropractic adjustments and a combination of the above methods. The few exceptions required the last and final option.
-Surgery. It is better to first exhaust all other less invasive treatment options prior to going under the knife. After surgery, there is a long road to recovery, and you will never recover 100%.(4)
(1) http://www.reason.com/news/show/32765.html
(2) http://www.acupuncture.com/conditions/carpaltunnelc.htm
(3) http://www.boloji.com/health/articles/01016.htm
(4) http://www.aidyourcts.com/sonic_relief/?REF=GCarpalTunnel
Dr of Chiropractic, Former Navy. From Guam.
Tags: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, decrease in business
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