- Could be work related, due to repetitive motion at work.
- More commonly, it is due to repetitive motion.
- Any disease that may cause inflammation in the flexor tendons of the forearm such as rheumatoid arthritis.
- Hypothyroidism may cause compression in the median nerve and the tendons passing through the carpal tunnel.
- Hormonal changes during pregnancy, women may experience CTS.
- Obesity could increase the risk of CTS.
- Some people might misdiagnosis CTS as Thoracic Outlet Syndrome or Pronator Syndrome.
- So, if you are experiencing numbness, tingling, and/or a burning sensation in your fingers and pain on your wrist, you should go to see your doctor for a medical diagnosis.
- Medical diagnosis tools includes: Electrodiagnostic testing, Clinical assessment, Tinel’s sign, Durkan test, Phalen’s test, Carpal compression test, or Hand elevation test.
- Splints – at the early stage using wrist braces and splints may help reduce stress on the wrists during activity.
- Corticosteroid injection – temporary pain relief for CTS
- Surgery
If you think you may have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, you should go to see your doctor for a medical diagnosis. If left untreated, you may lose muscle tone in your palm.
Alternative Treatment:
I will like to remind you, alternative medicine is not magic. We cannot magically cure any disease. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is one of the lifestyle illnesses, so the first step of healing is that you must be willing to change your lifestyle. Also, before you make the decision to try alternative treatment, you must understand that it took years to develop CTS. It is going to take years for the body to completely recover and heal.
Once you have decided to try alternative treatment I would like to talk to you. We’d start with your working environment, daily activity, diet and lifestyles. Then we can work together to develop a treatment plan that fits your schedule.
CTS personalized treatments are including the following; regular massage & acupuncture treatment, and home maintenance (diet & exercise).
Clinic visit:
After the assessment, we would start with a Castrol oil moist heat treatment on forearm. Castrol oil helps relax the muscle, reduce inflammation & swelling, and detox the area.
At the same time, I would provide a neck and shoulder massage (Most therapists only work on the wrist and the forearm for client with CTS, but the median nerves begin in the neck.) If the neck and shoulder muscles are too tight, it will continue compress the median nerves and block the communication signals to your arm, wrist and hand.
After 20 minutes of the Castrol oil moist heat treatment on the forearm, we will clean up the Castrol oil and start to massage the forearm, wrist and hand. Massaging the area helps reduce muscles tension, opens up the Tunnel on the forearm and releases pressure on the carpal. Then an acupuncture treatment will help reduce pain and reconnect the nerve signals.
Treatment Plans:
Treatment plans will start once a week for 4 to 8 weeks (depending on the condition) then will change to once every 2 weeks for 8 weeks, after that once a month for continued maintenance.
The muscle will normally take 12 hours to complete the changes. If you don’t do any home maintenance, it will go back to whatever state it was after 36 to 48 hours. Therefore, depending on your conditions you might need treatment once or twice a week at the beginning.
The reason you would need treatment once or twice a week at the beginning, is because the body takes time to heal. Your body has been used to the pain signals for many years, and the sensation of pain becomes normal. Now we need to re-educate the body (cells) what a normal no pain sensation should feel like.
Home Maintenance:
- Daily neck, shoulder, forearm and wrist stretching exercises.
- Increase water intake – drink water, daily intake should be half your body weight converted to ounces.
- Diet – food you should eat; whole grains, fatty fish, nuts, seeds, cauliflower, okra, green leafy vegetables, legumes, fresh fruits, bananas, pineapple, fresh vegetables, ginger, cayenne, cumin, turmeric, albacore tuna, mackerel, sardines, salmon, and other healthy foods.
- Vitamin B6 – 80 to 100 mg two to three times daily
- Vitamin B complex
- Bromelain – 250 to 1500 mg between meals (anti-inflammatory) (foud in pineapple)
Herbs:
- Willow bark – relieves pain and inflammation
- Chamomile, Turmeric, Ginger, Cumin, Sage – anti-inflammatory
- Meadowsweet, Wintergreen – pain reliever
- Comfrey – add the powder to the hand cream to helps relieve pain, inflammation, and swelling.
www.Altcaresolution.com
Tactical Health Coach
Raymond Wan, LMT., ADS., HHC
Alternative Care Solution Wellness Center
3790 28th ST SW Suite B, Grandville MI 49418
616-419-6924