Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment

Consultation and Exam

When you come to the The Chiropractors at the Springfield Wellness Center as a new patient, your first visit will consist of a consultation and examination. Before beginning care, your doctor wants to get to know you and understand your problem. You will review your history of the discomfort you are experiencing and how long it has been affecting you. Your doctor also wants to know how this problem has been impacting your life. Many people with carpal tunnel syndrome have difficulty working, especially if their work involves extensive computer use. This information helps your doctor understand you and ensures that the best recommendations for fixing the problem will be given to you.

After the consultation, your doctor will do a detailed exam in which orthopedic, neurologic, and functional movement testing will be performed. This will help the doctor understand your condition and what the root of the problem is. A consult and examination gives us a broader picture of what is going on and helps the doctor customize your treatment plan so that it will serve you best and get you back to doing the things that are important to you.

Specific Chiropractic Care

As chiropractors, we always look to the spine for the source of dysfunction and disease. However, carpal tunnel syndrome is a uniquely specific problem to the wrist. Even so, chiropractors are trained to evaluate and treat the wrist. After all, many tiny bones make up the wrist, which means there are many tiny joints there. If any of those joints are restricted, or if the bones are not positioned correctly, this can contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome occurring in the first place. Utilizing gentle manipulations to the wrist, chiropractors are able to release these restrictions and re-establish alignment of the carpal bones that make up the wrist. These adjustments improve range of motion, decrease pain, and provide a boost to the body’s ability to heal from this problem.

Therapeutic Exercise

Soft Tissue Work

Deep Tissue Laser

Numbness or Tingling

Often described as “Pins and Needles”, a common symptom of carpal tunnel syndrome is numbness or tingling in your hands or fingers. The thumb, index, middle, and/or ring fingers are usually affected, while the pinkie can evade the abnormal sensation. Some patients even describe it as being similar to an electric shock. The sensation is not always isolated to the hands and wrist, it can sometimes travel up your arm. Symptoms often occur at night, as most people sleep with their wrist bent placing pressure on the median nerve, and can even wake people sleep. During the day symptoms can be brought on by doing something with a bent wrist for a prolonged period like driving, reading a book, or holding your phone. At first, symptoms can come and go, but over time they may become more frequent and intense.

Weakness

Numbness may contribute to weakness in the thumb’s pinching muscles, which are controlled by the median nerve. If the median nerve is compressed, the brain can’t properly communicate with the muscles in the hand which can cause dysfunction and weakness, affecting your ability to grip and pinch. You may begin to drop objects, have difficulty with dexterity like the buttons on your shirt, or be unable to make a fist.

Wrist Pain

When a nerve is compressed, like the median nerve with carpal tunnel, pain is a common symptom. That’s because pain is the signal that your body uses to alert you that something is wrong. Pain or discomfort is not usually the first symptom of carpal tunnel syndrome but happens with gradual onset. Typically, pain follows numbness and tingling and resolves itself with the numbness and tingling has been alleviated. Carpal tunnel pain may be isolated to that hand, but it can also radiate up the forearm, sometimes reaching the shoulder. Shaking the hand or bending and straightening the fingers repeatedly may provide short-term pain relief. Long-term carpal tunnel pain relief is possible by relieving the pressure placed on the median nerve and restoring communication between the brain and the body.

Desk Workers

Perhaps the most common population of patients who come to our office with carpal tunnel syndrome are people who work at a desk for a living. In this day and age, it is extremely common to be sitting at a desk working on the computer for upwards of 8-10 hours per day. The repetitive nature of this work tends to cause pain, numbness, and tingling in the hands and fingers from using the keyboard and mouse with such consistency. Additionally, doing this work day after day, month after month, year after year can reinforce the problem and make it stubborn and chronic.

If you work at a desk and are experiencing symptoms such as pain, numbness, tingling, burning, or weakness in the hands, there are a few tips you can try to help alleviate some of the discomfort. First, if possible, take more work breaks. If you can take a short break every hour, it can alleviate the tension that builds up in the wrists and hands which makes symptoms worsen. It’s a good way to reset the hands and prepare for another productive spell of work. Second, do some gentle stretching both before and after work. This can help warm your forearm muscles up so they are more mobile and under less stress as you begin your daily work.

Meat and Fish Processing Workers

Another group that is highly susceptible to developing carpal tunnel syndrome is meat and fish processing workers. This type of work is highly repetitive for long hours and involves a lot of handwork that involves grip. Whenever this is the case, it is known that it will cause strain on those muscle tendons and can create irritation and inflammation, which can lead to issues developing within the carpal tunnel. This type of work also involves a lot of flexion of the wrist, which puts a lot of strain on the median nerve and muscle tendons passing through the carpal tunnel.

Like with desk workers, one tip that could be utilized, if allowed, would be to take more frequent work breaks. Short breaks to help the muscles and joints reset could lead to better productivity overall and less strain on the joints. Another tip would be to wear wrist braces during work, which would be protecting the wrist from flexing too far forward. Keeping the wrist in more of a neutral position can help spare the nerve from increased pressure and the ensuing carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms that follow.

People With Diabetes

Sometimes carpal tunnel syndrome can happen as the result of a medical condition, as opposed to stemming from the kind of work a person does for a living. One such medical condition that has been known to cause carpal tunnel syndrome is diabetes. This is primarily because diabetes increases fluid retention, which in turn can cause swelling in the hands and feet. Remember, there is only so much space within the carpal tunnel, so when inflammation and fluid are taking up that space, it can have a profound effect on the median nerve. Diabetes is also harmful to nerves and can lead to severe conditions such as peripheral neuropathy in the hands and feet if left uncorrected.

If you suffer from diabetes and carpal tunnel syndrome, one thing that can be done to help reduce symptoms is supplement with Vitamin B6. This vitamin acts as a natural diuretic and can help release some of the excess fluid that is retained. In turn, this decreases the fluid pressure in the carpal tunnel being applied to the median nerve. Also, making lifestyle changes such as changing your diet or adding regular exercise to your daily routine can not only alleviate the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome but also improve your overall health and diabetic condition.