Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - Stopping the Pain

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a nerve entrapment disorder that is associated with considerable pain and functional impairment of the fingers and hand. It is also quite common for this condition to refer pain up the median nerve pathway into the elbow, shoulder, upper back and neck.

Caused by an imbalance of the muscles that open, close, deviate and rotate the hand, results in biomechanical dysfunction and a joint imbalance, affecting the median nerve at the wrist junction. Severe cases of carpal tunnel syndrome can lead to muscle atrophy and deterioration of the median nerve when left untreated. It is the cause of significant disability worldwide and a subject of growing research in the medical and physical therapy communities. With costs to treat this disorder surpassing 60 billion annually, a common sense treatment approach is being sought by both private and federal communities.

There are many pathways to muscle imbalance in the hand, and considerable research has examined the pressure system surrounding the carpal canal. This work has shown that people with carpal tunnel syndrome have markedly increased pressure in the carpal canal in the hand following minor movement in the wrist that involve repetitive and/or static wrist and finger flexion. The longer these types of activities are performed, the greater the muscle imbalance develops and the more severe the symptoms become. As the finger and wrist flexor muscles that close the hand become more developed than their opposing extensor muscles that open the hand, the stronger muscles cause the bones to shift in the direction due to the pulling action of the stronger muscles and results in the impingement of the structures between. In this case, the median nerve is impinged. As the median nerve and flexor tendons now have to glide past each other as the fingers and wrist flex and extend while being in a state of impingement, there is increased friction which irritates the tendons and nerve and causes inflammation and swelling of these tissues. The result of this pressure and secondary swelling is a further increase in edema inside the median nerve. (Swelling is often thought of as the cause of carpal tunnel, when in fact it is the result of being irritated due to its state of being impinged between the flexor tendons inside the carpal tunnel which has also been reduced in size due to the collapse / shifting of the carpal bones.)

This entrapment produces a variety of painful symptoms. Indeed, carpal tunnel syndrome is characterized by paresthesia (also known as a pins and needles), numbness, tingling and a lack of coordination of the fingers along with muscle degeneration if left untreated, but it may also include pain, stiffness, tenderness, and swelling, and many people with the condition notice themselves assuming a ginger stance at the computer keyboard or workstation. As symptoms progress and worsen over time, carpal tunnel syndrome generally includes muscle wasting, diminished strength, and a serious loss of overall dexterity and coordination.

Although the disorder is significantly debilitating, effective treatments do exist. Those with the most scientific support target symptoms by restoring muscle balance in the hand. Most often a combination of strengthening and lengthening exercises combined with supportive equipment is enough to improve symptoms dramatically.

By addressing carpal tunnel with conservative modes of treatment (Flextend), people can usually avoid the high failure rates associated with treatments like cortisone injections and surgery. Always be sure to consult with your physician and be sure that you have a received an accurate diagnosis of your condition, but if you do not agree with your doctor, seek a second or third opinion.

Jeff P. Anliker, LMT, is a therapist and inventor of products like Flextend, AC-Kit, TFT-Kit, and Restore, that are used by professional musicians and athletes an around the world to prevent and treat disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive strain injuries.http://www.repetitive-strain.com

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
You may be sleeping at night or maybe working at your keyboard and suddenly an arrow of fire shoots through your fingers, blazes through your wrists, and travels up your arm, ending in your elbow. Your fingers tingle at the impact and then the wrist and the fingers become numb. Has this happened to you ever? Do your fingers, specially the thumb, th...

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - Low Level Laser Approach
IntroductionA friend of mine, a dentist, came to me, numbness on her right hand as the chief complaint. That is a very specific injury to whom who uses hand, especially the wrist, rhythmic and for a long time. It usually occurs in people who work as a dentist (like my friend), somebody who works a lot using computer, or in Indonesia, during fasting...

Lower Back Pain - Neck Pain - Tingling - Numbness
Patients with neck or lower back pain may have tingling and/or or numbness due to irritation of the nerve roots in the neck or lower spine.Tingling and/or numbness in the first three digits of the hand are related to C5 nerve root (thumb), C6 nerve root (index) and C7 nerve root (middle finger) involvement. Similar symptoms in the last two digits ...

How To Eliminate The Pain of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Choosing a career as an accountant has spared me from most work related health problems. Atop my padded chair in a climate-controlled office, only an occasional paper cut or being punctured by a mechanical pencil stand as potential physical dangers. However, I have become painfully aware of several physical ailments that have affected me directly b...

The Alternative Method For Effective Pain Relief
In the last few years, several pain killer drugs have come under the scrutiny of the FDA. Severe health complications arising due to long term usage of pain killers is just one of the reasons.The need for an alternative method of treatment for pain relief was imperative. Hence, alternative pain relief therapies have gained a lot of popularity. Acup...

The Safer Solution to Pain Relief Management
The next time you have a bout of back ache after a long day on the desktop, spare a thought for the treatment method that you are using. On more occasions than not, you will simply pop a pain killer pill and get relief within an hour. But the pain will return the next day or week. This is because pain killers only reduce the amount of prostaglandin...

How To Eliminate The Pain From Heel Spurs
Choosing a career as an accountant has spared me from most work related health problems. Atop my padded chair in a climate-controlled office, only an occasional paper cut or being punctured by a mechanical pencil stand as potential physical dangers.However, I have become painfully aware of several physical ailments that have affected me directly b...