Carpal tunnel syndrome has become very commonly diagnosed in
many office workers. It is common for anyone with pain or tingling in their
hand to be told that they have carpal tunnel and that they need to brace their
wrist, take pain killers, and, in bad cases, undergo surgery to decompress the
carpal tunnel. Yet the surgery for carpal tunnel often fails to fix the problem
and many people struggle with this condition for years. But what if their
carpal tunnel isn’t really carpal tunnel?
Nerve impingement due to cervical facet dysfunction can
cause symptoms very like those seen with carpal tunnel. This means that the
pain and tingling in your hands may in actuality be coming from your neck and
can often be helped by chiropractic care including adjustments and soft tissue
therapy.
So how do you know when you have true carpal tunnel and when
you need to consider other causes for the problem? In a true carpal tunnel
syndrome the pain, tingling, or numbness in the hand occurs along the palm and
affects your thumb, index, middle, and part or all of your ring finger.
However, it does not affect the palm of the hand as sensation to your palm is
provided by a branch of the median nerve which branches off of the median nerve
before it enters your carpal tunnel. This means that if you are having symptoms
into your palm the pressure on the nerve is coming from higher up in the arm,
rather than from the carpal tunnel. If this is the case you need to explore
other areas where the nerves to the hand may become entrapped. This can include
the elbow, upper arm, or neck.
References:
Beers, Mark H., et al. (2006). The Merck Manual of
Diagnosis and Therapy. Merck & Co.
Ltd.; Whitehouse Station, NJ.
Netter, Frank H. (2003). Atlas of Human Anatomy; Third
Edition. Icon Learning Systems.
Teterboro,
NJ.
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