Thank you for joining me again this evening for our nightly podcasts. I perform these podcasts in the hopes that you will be able to education yourself on the topics discussed so you can make better informed medical decisions regarding your health in the future. I am doctor Harrison Campbell of Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. Previously we discussed double crush syndrome and drew some comparisons to carpal tunnel syndrome. Tonight, we will dive deep into carpal tunnel syndrome and cover some treatment options should you be suffering from this condition.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a condition most people are familiar with at least in a passing sense. Usually if someone complains of hand pain and numbness and tingling everyone states that they have carpal tunnel syndrome. It is kind of like sciatica in that sense. Any pain in the area is automatically assumed to be this condition. What sugar land chiropractors know however, is there are specific symptoms which occur to diagnose this condition.
To begin, let us first break down the carpal tunnel as this anatomical structure sets the stage for this condition to occur. The carpal bones form the wrist. There are eight of these bones, but I will not bore you with their names. These bones form a concave like arch with the opening being on the palm side of the wrist. Bridging this arch Is a ligament called the transverse ligament. Now sugar land chiropractors can tell you that most structure which run from the forearm into the hand pass through the carpal tunnel, although there are a few exception. What this means is you have tendons, blood vessels, and nerves all passing through a limited space.
Now in everyday life this limited space is not problematic, but you can guess that when there is something which limits the space, the term here is space occupying lesion, we can have problems. This can occur for a variety of reasons, most people associated manual work or people who use their hands a lot as having carpal tunnel. This is said to be the result of tendon hypertrophy, which is simply tendons growing thicker due to muscles getting bigger from the work. While this can and does occur, there is another reason which sugar land chiropractors associate with being a cause of carpal tunnel. This is joint dysfunction of the carpal bones, or specifically one carpal bone, the lunate. This bone can become problematic as it becomes stuck due to joint dysfunction and produces a space occupying problem for the carpal tunnel.
When the limited space becomes an issue, the first structure to become irritated is the nerves. This is where Carpal Tunnel Syndrome gets is hallmark numbness and tingling. Last night we discussed how there are usually very specific symptoms associated with this condition. Those symptoms are the numbness and tingling of the fingers. The calm is excluded from this usually because as sugar land chiropractors know, the cutaneous nerve for sensation on the palm is one of the few structures which does not pass through the carpal tunnel. It travels above the transverse ligament. This means that when suffering from carpal tunnel the pal retains the sensory while the fingers are affected.
An additional point is that all the fingers are affected. The cutaneous sensation to the fingers travels through the carpal tunnel underneath the transverse ligament. This differentiates the sensory loss in other conditions. For instance sugar land chiropractors can tell you that the sensory loss from median nerve being injured includes sensory loss in the thumb and first two fingers with a section of the palm included. This is because this particular area of the hand receives its innervation from this particular nerve.
In our last few minutes let us cover some treatment options for carpal tunnel syndrome. First and foremost there is a surgical option. The reason I put this first is not because of the effectiveness, but because this is what most people think of when they have carpal tunnel. Now the surgery for carpal tunnel has come a long way. In the past, they would simply cut the transverse ligament relieving pressure. This was a crude but somewhat effective way to deal with carpal tunnel, in the short term. The loss of the transverse ligament would alter the wrist and the carpal bones specifically and produce problems down the road, but the issue of carpal tunnel was correct. And I say corrected not healed because it was an imperfect solution to the problem. The surgery now days opens up space while saving or preserving the transverse ligament. It has fewer side effects long term and is a more viable option even if it is an invasive option.
The joint dysfunction of the lunate carpal bone can be treated with chiropractic adjustments. The adjustment to the wrist is a simple procedure with the most severe side effect being soreness after the adjustment. This can be treated with ice to the wrist for fifteen minutes followed by a fifteen minutes break without ice and the process can be repeated for as long as required. The adjustment will help restore normal motion to the lunate and freeing up space in the carpal tunnel helping to reduce the symptoms of carap tunnel syndrome. No as sugar land chiropractors will tell you an adjustment to the lunate will not always be a one time treatment. Typically depending on the patient’s job, I find that with proper stretching and work habits an adjustment can quote unquote hold for sometimes months at a time before requiring another adjustment.
Thank you for joining me again this evening for another great podcast. I hope you enjoyed the discussion on (blank). As always should you or someone you know require a sugar land chiropractors services or simply have more questions on what was discussed please call Restoration Health today. We would love to schedule you an appointment and get you on the path to better health today. Thank you once again for joining us. Have a good night.