Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome refers to a variety of symptoms, including numbness, tingling and pain in the hand, wrist and arm and associated weakness or wasting away of hand muscles that are supplied by the median nerve. Symptoms primarily affect the palm side of the thumb, index and middle fingers. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome often occurs when the nerves passing through the carpal tunnel (at the wrist) get pinched, however, the nerves may be pinched at several points from the neck down to the fingers such as the cervical spine, trapezius region (thoracic outlet), shoulder, elbow, forearm and/or wrist. This phenomenon is called Double Crush and is often overlooked by healthcare providers outside of chiropractic.

Often, when there is a misalignment of one or more of the spinal bones in the neck, the brain is not able to send a strong, steady nerve current to the arm and hand. This imperfect nerve flow can cause an inflammation or swelling of the median nerve, which is then easily irritated within the wrist by repetitive movement. The result is the numbness, tingling, pain, and weakness associated with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

While there is little agreement in the medical community about the causes of Carpal Tunnel, there is building evidence that chiropractic care can help. Through gentle manipulation, chiropractic can realign the spinal bones in the neck, relieving the pressure on the nerves, allowing strong nerve current to flow from the brain.

One commonly related finding with carpal tunnel symptoms is a reversed cervical curve which places tension along the spinal cord as well as the cervical nerves as they pass out of the vertebra and down the arm. This fact is often overlooked by medical doctors and may explain why carpal tunnel surgery often fails to relieve the patient’s symptoms.