Many people believe Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) cannot be treated without invasive surgery. Lucky for you, you found Neurosomatic Therapy! Common issues related to Carpal tunnel include…
+Numbness in the palmar side of the thumb, index, middle, and half of the ring finger.
+The majority of CTS cases are idiopathic (no known cause).
+Traditional medical treatment is reduced to a wrist brace and/or carpal tunnel release surgery.
+Wrist pain and finger numbness can be symptoms of a much larger problem starting in the arm, shoulder, or back.
+Long term success with carpal tunnel syndrome requires understanding and properly treating the source of the problem.
SYMPTOMS:
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), also called median neuropathy of the wrist, is a painful condition resulting in numbness, tingling, and weakness in the palmar side of the thumb, index, middle, and half of the ring finger. This is an important distinction as many patients will report that they have carpal tunnel syndrome but then describe their pain as numbness in their last two fingers or the base of their thumb. Any affected area other than the index middle and part of the ring finger is not true CTS and is most likely an entrapment of the radial or ulnar nerve.
CAUSES:
The majority of CTS is idiopathic (no known cause). At Sarasota Pain Treatment Center we believe the reason there’s no known cause of CTS is that the rest of the body is not fully examined. Our experience in identifying trigger points in muscles of the shoulder and arm can refer directly into the wrist and specific areas in the hand and mimic the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome to such an extent that even medical doctors can be fooled by these trigger points. Other areas in the neck, elbow, and forearm also have the ability to entrap the median nerve.
TRADITIONAL TREATMENT:
Traditionally treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome is addressed one of two ways:
1) A brace is typically worn, possibly only at night but in some cases all day may be necessary or
2) carpal tunnel release surgery is performed.
Carpal tunnel release surgery can be performed two difference ways, open carpal tunnel release and endoscopic carpal tunnel release. The technique is slightly different but the goal of each surgery is to get the pressure off of the median nerve by cutting the transverse carpal ligament opening up the space around the median nerve. The short term success of these surgeries is around 90%, however when the long term efficacy of the procedure was studied 57% of the patients reported a return of their preoperative symptoms on average 2 years after the operation.
NON-SURGICAL, NON-INVASIVE TREATMENT (NEUROSOMATIC THERAPY):
By treating carpal tunnel syndrome as more than strictly a wrist problem, we at the Sarasota Pain Treatment Center have been able to achieve long lasting relief for our patients suffering from these symptoms without the pain and risks related to surgery. A thorough postural assessment of the body as a whole has identified contributing problems as far away as the hips leading to shoulder imbalances which then lead to wrist pain. We believe that this is the reason why most CTS surgeries do not provide long term lasting relief for patients. We understand that the wrist pain you are experiencing can simply be a symptom of a much larger problem in the body and the only way to achieve long term success with carpal tunnel syndrome is to identify and properly treat the source of the problem. Call today to let one of our expert therapists answer any questions you may have regarding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.