Relief for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a relatively common condition caused by the compression of the median nerve at the wrist. Interestingly, this nerves roots begin in your neck, travelling down into the shoulders, elbow, wrist and into the hand!

One of the unfortunate culprits for causing CTS is poor ergonomics and prolonged computer use.

Common symptoms include:

– Intermittent or constant numbness or tingling in the thumb, index, middle digit and/or half of the fourth digit. It can also travel into palm and wrist.
– Pain in the same fingers, wrist and/or palm.
– Night pain or tingling can occur, with the individual usually trying to shake out their hands to relieve their symptoms.
– The symptoms can also occur with repetitive activities such as typing.

Unfortunately CTS can be stubborn, especially if left untreated for an extended period of time.

Recent research (2018) compared manual therapy and surgical decompression for the treatment of CTS. The results showed equal outcomes for the manual therapy group, as the surgical decompression group (this was shown in mid and long term results). Given this, they concluded that a trial of manual therapy before surgical intervention is warranted.

Depending on your individual case, as well as your medical doctors recommendations, here our a few modalities that HLHC’s chiropractors and physiotherapists can use to help with your CTS:

Manual Muscle Therapy:

As a result of CTS, there are many muscles that can become tight or sore along the hand, wrist, elbow and even up into the shoulder and neck! Loosening up these muscles have the potential to alleviate your symptoms.

Manual Joint Mobilizations:

Similar to your muscles, there are certain joints in your hand, wrist, elbow and even your shoulder or neck that can become restricted. By restoring proper joint mobility, we can help loosen up the surrounding muscles!

Medical Acupuncture:

With the help of acupuncture we are able to trace out the nerves that are affected or compressed along the way. By stimulating specific anatomical points along the wrist, elbow, shoulder and neck, we are attempting to release the nerve compression, which can help alleviate CTS symptoms.

Exercise:

For any long term alleviation of symptoms we always suggest some form of exercise to help maintain proper mobility and strength, which can help prevent your symptoms from returning! Specific exercises such as median nerve flossing have been shown to help alleviate CTS symptoms!

If you think you are having symptoms of CTS give HLHC a call today at 905-853-7900. One of our practitioners can properly assess your symptoms and create an individualized treatment plan for you!

Holland Landing Health Centre is a multi-disciplinary clinic offering Chiropractic, Physiotherapy, Naturopathic Medicine, Registered Massage, Medical Acupuncture & Shockwave. HLHC is proud to service the Town of East Gwillimbury, Newmarket, Bradford, Keswick & surrounding areas.

References

Fernández‐de‐las‐Peñas, C., et al. “Effectiveness of manual therapy versus surgery in pain processing due to carpal tunnel syndrome: A randomized clinical trial.” European Journal of Pain 21.7 (2017): 1266-1276.