What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a painful and disabling disorder characterized by inflammation and swelling of the tendons that run through the narrow carpal tunnel in the wrist, and is one of the most common of repetitive stress injuries. Numbness, tingling, and pain in the base of the thumb and the first three fingers results from the compression of a nerve that shares the carpal tunnel. The syndrome, categorized by the World Health Organization as a work-related musculoskeletal disorder, is caused by excessive and unrelieved repetition of movements that in themselves appear innocuous, such as cutting meat or typing on a computer keyboard. In addition to high frequency of repetition and lack of rest periods, factors that increase risk of hand-wrist damage include awkward or unnatural working posture, use of excessive force in performing a task, and emotional stress.
The field of health care responded to this affliction with hand clinics designed to rehabilitate disabled workers. Treatment includes rest, exercises, wrist splints, anti-inflammatory medications, learning stress-reducing movement techniques, making adjustments to the individual’s workstation, and surgery to reduce pressure on the afflicted nerve. But now SURGERY CAN BE avoided in some cases with the use of the cold light laser therapy.
Carpal tunnel syndrome, one of the cumulative trauma disorders reportedly responsible for 30 to 40 percent of worker’s compensation claims in the early 1990s, afflicts burgeoning numbers of office workers. Almost half of all carpal tunnel syndrome cases result in 31 days or more of work loss in the United States.
Typical symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome include paresthesias (abnormal sensations) such as tingling and numbness in the thumb and index and middle fingers on the palm side night pain, weakness in grasping, thumb and index finger pinching, and other thumb movements clumsiness, such as awkward hand movements and dropping things.
Studies have shown chiropractic care to be one of the most effective treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome.