Effective Carpal Tunnel Treatment with Chiropractic Care
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common condition that causes pain and numbness in the hands, wrists, and fingers. Typically, carpal tunnel treatment options include drugs and sometimes surgery. Yet, chiropractic offers a safer, effective alternative that allows patients to achieve relief of symptoms that lasts.
The Basics of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
The carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway in the wrist that contains the median nerve. Sometimes, this nerve can become compressed, causing the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. These symptoms include the following:
- Pain that may extend from the fingers through the wrist and up the forearm toward the shoulder
- Numbness, tingling, and burning sensations
- Weakness of the hand and fingers
The symptoms primarily affect the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers, as well as the wrist and forearm. Patients generally experience mild, occasional symptoms at first. Without treatment, they tend to become much worse. The weakening of the area can cause patients to drop things frequently and have trouble performing fine motor tasks. It is possible to develop permanent nerve and muscle damage when patients delay seeking care.
Carpal tunnel treatment options such as corticosteroid injections and surgery (which involves severing the ligament in the wrist) can be drastic, and can cause undesirable side effects and complications. Fortunately, noninvasive treatments are effective, particularly when patients seek care from a chiropractor promptly.
Chiropractic: An Effective Carpal Tunnel Treatment
It’s often thought that chiropractors only treat back conditions. In fact, chiropractors are highly knowledgeable medical professionals who can treat any joint in the body, including the wrist, hand, and finger joints, and related problems. Your first appointment with a chiropractor will involve a thorough evaluation of your symptoms and physical functionality. The chiropractor will also ask you some questions about your medical history.
Then, your chiropractor will develop a customized carpal tunnel treatment plan that is designed to address the underlying cause(s) of your conditions. This is at the heart of chiropractic care—the treatment of the underlying problem, rather than merely masking the symptoms. Your chiropractic treatment plan may include the following modalities:
- Soft tissue therapies: If trigger points (hard knots in the muscle) are contributing to your symptoms, your chiropractor can perform soft tissue therapies to release those trigger points.
- Spinal manipulation: Sometimes, subluxations (misalignments of the spine’s vertebrae) can cause symptoms of the arm, wrist, and hand. Your chiropractor can perform spinal manipulation to gently realign the vertebrae and relieve pressure on the nerve.
- Arm manipulation: If your carpal tunnel syndrome is primarily the result of problems in the wrist or arm itself, the chiropractor can gently manipulate these body parts to eliminate the pressure on the median nerve.
- Therapeutic stretches and exercises: These help improve the function of your wrist and support the health of the median nerve. Your chiropractor will demonstrate the stretches and exercises for you, and offer recommendations for doing them yourself at home.
Chiropractic for Carpal Tunnel Treatment in Ventura
If you’d like to avoid surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome and instead attain better health through drug-free treatments, contact Advanced Spine & Sport Chiropractic. Our chiropractor in Ventura, CA, Dr. Baranski, D.C., has been treating local patients with repetitive stress injuries for over 16 years. Dr. Baranski avidly pursues continuing education opportunities in order to offer his patients the most up to date treatments available.
Contact our office at (805) 642-4061 to request an appointment with Dr. Baranski.
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Chiropractic
Carpal Tunnel Treatment
