Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common wrist injury that many people experience and are diagnosed with each year. It essentially is the compression of the median nerve as it makes its way from the cervical spine into the hand through the carpal tunnel, or narrow passageway, located in your wrist. In your hand, the median nerve is located on the palm side and provides the sensations and ability to feel your thumb, index finger, middle finger, and part of your ring finger, as well as the impulse to the muscle that reaches to your thumb.

If there is any swelling of your carpal tunnel, there will be compression on the median nerve, causing carpal tunnel syndrome. This causes the limited feeling or movement, or even potentially completely cutting off feeling or movement to parts of the hand. This also causes the pain you feel in your wrist and hand.

The most common cause of carpal tunnel syndrome is inflammation and obstructed blood flow caused by an underlying medical condition, which could include:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Thyroid dysfunction
• Autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis
• Fluid retention during pregnancy or menopause
• Trauma or fractures in the wrist

Carpal tunnel syndrome isn’t always caused by medical conditions. You can also experience carpal tunnel syndrome if you overextend or strain your wrist repeatedly, as repetitive motion and stress on your wrist can contribute to swelling and compression of the median nerve and cause pain. This can be caused by:

• How you position your wrists while typing on a keyboard or using a mouse
• Prolonged vibrations from using power tools or other hand tools
• Repeated movements that overextend or exert your wrists, like playing piano or assembly line work

It’s important to recognize the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome so you can seek the right treatments and work to heal your wrist sooner rather than later, so further injuries don’t occur. The symptoms include:

• Feeling your hand “fall asleep” frequently
• Dropping objects
• Numbness, tingling, and pain in your thumb and fingers (excluding your pinky finger)
• Pain and a burning sensation that spreads up your arm
• Wrist pain at night that keeps you awake or wakes you up
• Muscle weakness in the hand

The severity, pain, and amount of weakness you feel from your carpal tunnel syndrome will determine what kind of treatment you should receive. It may be necessary to have surgery if your median nerve is damaged. However, it’s more common and more advised to treat carpal tunnel syndrome with non-invasive methods, and it is possible to treat yourself at home, but it can take months. Seeking professional medical treatment with us can speed up the process and get you back to feeling like yourself, completely pain-free.

Chiropractic treatment is an alternative treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome as the median nerve actually originates in the cervical spine and adjustments to the wrist, elbow, and spine can be made to help manage the pain and encourage healing. Our chiropractic physicians here at Icon Medical Centers can assess your injury and investigate to see if there is any interference in your vertebrae that may be causing the pain and compression of your median nerve.

Your team at Icon Medical Centers will care for and support you so you can get back to living your life pain-free. If you are interested in our carpal tunnel syndrome treatments, please don’t hesitate to give us a call and schedule your appointment today.