Many patients often ask me, “Dr. Angulo how can chiropractic adjustments help with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome?”
Here’s my standard answer…
The nervous system controls all major body function. The median nerve controls the thumb, index, parts of the middle finger. From the tip of your fingers, it travels through the bones of the wrist, past your elbow, up your arm, through your shoulder and neck, which ends in your spinal cord. Symptoms can start in one or more of these areas.
The carpal “tunnel” is formed by key bones in your wrist, and hand. The median nerve, tendons, and blood vessels which passes through this opening is called the carpel tunnel.
If one or more of the bones forming this tunnel should “collapse”, inflammation, nerve pressure, and painful symptoms can result.
The median nerve connects to the spinal cord through openings between several bones in the lower neck. When these spinal bones lose their normal motion or position, they can cause problems in the fingers and wrist. The median nerve also travels through specific muscles where scar tissue can form and cause nerve entrapments which produce pain, tingling sensations and numbness ( your hand or arm falling asleep)
After a careful examination, I will prescribe very gentle and specific adjustments where needed, as well as soft tissue therapies like Active Release Techniques to help restore normal bone and muscular structure while reducing the irritation to the nerve in your hand. When given time, gentle chiropractic adjustments and muscle manipulation has provided outstanding results with carpal tunnel problems—without drugs or surgery for my patients.
What causes Carpel Tunnel Syndrome is, repetitive hand and wrist motion.
Day in and day out, assembly line workers, secretaries, keyboard operators, grocery store checkout clerks, and athletes receive micro-traumas to their wrists and hands. Constant intense vibrations or repetitive motions, when combined with joint dysfunction, can result in carpal tunnel syndrome.
Here’s what you should watch out for pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, or a loss of strength, and function in the hands.
If placing your hands back to back causes increase in pins and needles, tingling or pain, you could have a carpal tunnel syndrome.
Next, you could try a muscle test by having someone pull your thumb and finger apart, while you resist.
If your fingers seem weak, it could be related to a median nerve problem in your carpal tunnel.
Specific nerve conduction studies and special testing will need to be performed in order to see if spinal nerve roots are also involved. What I do with patients is offer them very specific chiropractic adjustments which drastically returns normal joint function to the hand and wrist followed by muscle manipulation to reduce scar tissue caused by the repetitive movement.
In general, chiropractors who are trained to treat sport injuries in the extremities are experts in the care of the bones, nerves, muscles and connective tissues that make up about 60% of your body. All of the joints in your body are part of this musculo-skeletal system and its optimal function is necessary for overall good health.
Please pick up your phone and call (212) 769-9065 and ask Dr. Angulo for more specific information about proper treatment options, conservative care programs that could include gentle spinal adjustments, muscle therapy, rehabilitation exercises and nutritional advice. He would give you his opinion based on your current health history, age, past surgeries, medication you are currently taking and additional conditions you are suffering.
