CARPAL TUNNEL

If you work in front of a computer, have poor posture, or use your elbows and wrists a lot you may have experienced or have a co-worker who is familiar with something called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

It is fairly common, nowadays, and mostly affects the hand and wrist. Symptoms vary, but lots of people feel numbness or tingling in the fingers (usually the thumb, index, and middle fingers), pain or weakness in the hand and wrist, and difficulty grabbing or holding onto objects. What happens is the median nerve becomes compressed, pinched, or stressed somewhere. This nerve exits the base of the neck, travels through the shoulder, across the elbow, and into the hand through a “tunnel” in the wrist. Most people end up doing stretches and exercises for the wrist, take medications, or even go through surgeries(sometimes multiple-the record we’ve seen is 4 on one wrist!!) to try decompress the wrist and alleviate the pain.

However, in an effort to save time, money, and lots of frustrating pain, it’s really important that you figure out exactly where the nerve is compressed. Remember, the median nerve passes all the way from your neck to your hand and there’s several key areas where it can get compressed! If the problem area is in the neck, but you’re doing stretches for your wrist, that may result in a lot of frustration and failing to get to the Roots of the problem!

Here’s how Roots Chiropractic benefits people with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: once we figure out where the problem area is, our gentle and effective spinal adjustments are able to alleviate stress or pinching of the median nerve. A study found that chiropractic adjustments were effective in treating patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, leading to improvements in symptoms and functional ability (Branco et al., 2011). We use a variety of techniques to help with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, including adjustments for the spine, elbow, and wrist as well as empower our people through proper ergonomic education. These methods can help to reduce nerve compression, improve joint mobility, and promote great healing and recovery.

Reference:
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Median_Nerve
Branco AC, Neto FL, Aguiar LT, Ferreira PH, de Paula AP. Conservative intervention in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2011;34(5):298-306.