Carpal tunnel syndrome, or CTS, is a condition where the nerve that runs from the forearm into the hand gets compressed. Carpal tunnel can cause significant pain and result in numbness that makes using your hand practically impossible.
Carpal tunnel affects�approximately 3% of the population. Carpal tunnel sufferers, fortunately, there are effective treatments that do not require surgery. Chiropractic care can help relieve the pain of carpal tunnel, and can often improve mobility and range of motion in the process.
What is it?
The term �carpal tunnel� refers to an actual tunnel created by ligaments and bones in the wrist. Tendons and median nerves travel from the forearm through the carpal tunnel in the wrist and into the hand. When the median nerve becomes compressed inside the carpal tunnel�usually due to injury or inflammation�it can lead to the symptoms associated with CTS.
The Causes
The exact cause of CTS is not always easy to identify, but there are many factors that can play a role. A family history of CTS makes it more likely that you will develop the condition. Repetitive work, such as a job on an assembly line, is known to increase the risk of CTS. Wrist injuries can also cause carpal tunnel. There are other contributing factors that are not as obvious, such as pregnancy, menopause, and dialysis.
Symptoms
The first signs of carpal tunnel often include a feeling of pins and needles in the wrist, hands, and fingers. You may notice some numbness from time to time, especially after using the wrist in a way that causes compression�like performing a task over and over at work.
Over time, the symptoms can become more severe. Eventually, carpal tunnel can lead to a loss of coordination with the thumb, then other digits. Pain may not be significant at first, but tends to get worse and the condition progresses.
Chiropractic Can Help
Standard medical treatments for carpal tunnel include using anti-inflammatory drugs, refraining from using the wrist/hand, wearing a splint and eventually surgery. While these treatments can sometimes be effective, the risks associated with surgery are significant. Carpal tunnel surgery may or may not fix the problem, and as with any surgery, can sometimes cause more issues than it helps.
Learning to Protect Yourself
Chiropractic care offers a safe alternative to standard medical care, one that is non-invasive and minimizes the need for medications and their potential side effects. Chiropractic treatments for carpal tunnel can help to reduce inflammation and minimize pain. But chiropractic goes further than just treating the symptoms�it can also help you avoid aggravating the condition so that it can heal.
Chiropractors are trained in proper movement and ergonomics. Your chiropractor can help you understand what you are doing that is causing the carpal tunnel to begin with. He or she can also advise you on ways to adjust your movements to protect your wrists moving forward. You may be able to learn new ways of doing things that will allow you to achieve your goals without risking injury.
Getting Stronger
One of the fundamentals of chiropractic care is improving strength and mobility to aid in healing and protect from further injury. Your chiropractor can guide you through exercises to make you stronger. Once you know how to do the exercises, you can do them at home to continue to gain strength.
Schedule An Appointment
Carpal tunnel sufferers, don’t wait any longer and contact us to schedule an appointment. We will get you the relief you need!
A winged scapula is a debilitating condition left untreated. The condition is often spotted by the protrusion or the sticking out of the scapula from the back. Fortunately, chiropractic treatment can fix the condition. This and associated therapies can help you get relief from your symptoms, and to strengthen your shoulders to avoid further discomfort.
Symptoms
The symptoms of a winged scapula can include:
Protrusion of the shoulder blade from the back
Pain when sitting from pressure on the scapula
Difficulty moving the shoulder and arm
Weakness in the shoulder and arm
Sometimes the symptoms of a winged scapula are relatively minor in the beginning. You may only have a little discomfort at the start. But symptoms tend to get worse over time, so it is important for you to seek treatment sooner rather than later.
The damage to the thoracic nerve can cause muscles in the shoulder to become paralyzed, leading to winged scapula symptoms. Many times the appearance of a winged scapula indicated other problems in the back and shoulder.
Poor posture can also lead to a winged scapula. Years of poor posture can weaken the muscles that hold the shoulder in place to the point where a winged scapula is more likely to occur.
Chiropractic Care Can Help
I.D. The Cause
Because this condition can be caused by several different issues, it is important to determine the exact cause before beginning treatment. A chiropractor is well-qualified to give you a full body examination to locate the source of your injury.
Realigning The Thoracic Nerve
Chiropractors are skilled at aligning the human body, including the thoracic nerve. We can locate the point where misalignment of the nerve has occurred and often correct it.
Strengthening The Shoulders
As a winged scapula is often the result of weakened shoulder muscles, the most effective treatment is usually to strengthen the muscles. Our team can guide you in rehab exercises to return your muscle strength and support your shoulder. We can also help you learn how to activate the right muscles in the right manner to operate your shoulder properly.
The symptoms of a winged scapula can come on slowly, which makes many sufferers feel like they should try fixing the issue themselves before seeking medical care. Unfortunately, trying to heal a winged scapula on your own is not likely to be effective.
In fact, you will need some sort of assistance to even apply ice to the area, You will also need help to identify exactly what is wrong and to treat it. Seeking qualified care is recommended.
Helping You Heal
A winged scapula can be quite painful. You should not have to suffer from should pain and back pain. We encourage you to contact us to schedule an appointment and get the treatment you deserve. We are happy to help you with all your chiropractic needs.
Question: I work at a desk all day and have started to feel pain in my neck, back, shoulders and arms. Can chiropractors help with sitting posture and general posture?
El Paso, TX. Chiropractor, Dr. Alexander Jimenez provides insight into proper sitting posture and general posture through chiropractic.
Have people asked you about using a posture brace to help correct their sitting habits? Chiropractic patients with moderate posture problems, meaning that they may be chronic but are not tied to any spinal column or other medical condition, may benefit from a posture back brace to improve this condition. There are a number of great ones available, and you can see more information about some of the top ones here.
A patient such as this will almost certainly enjoy the quick referral as well as the relatively fast results, and chiropractors get an easy opportunity to help people, which explains why many enter the profession in the first place.
But if the patient does have an underlying chiropractic ailment, a back brace will probably do little if any good. These issues are usually easily diagnosed using a quick examination, and afterwards, treatment is relatively straightforward as well.
Diagnosing Conditions
All good exams begin with thorough health history, because in most cases, family history is among the most powerful indicators about current issues.
Next, observe the individual’s gait, as how someone walks shows a number of issues. For instance, those who stand or walk with their legs abnormally spread might have fallen arches. Because the bottom of the foot isn’t in appropriate contact with the floor, the whole body has been thrown off kilter, resulting in poor posture. While it isn’t really a chiropractic condition, fallen arches are, as simple as, a referral to an orthopedist.
Moreover, if the patient is experiencing pain, the location can be an indicator as to where the muscles may be weak and there is too much strain on the spine or a different region of the body. Muscle weakness is among the leading causes of poor posture. So, follow-up tests that measure muscle strength and range of movement are usually a good idea.
If the gait examination signals issues in a particular area of the body, the professional should concentrate further diagnostic efforts in that region.
Ultimately, one of the most simple and effective evaluations is just holding a yardstick or comparable object against the patient’s back, so the two of you can definitely see any abnormalities. This comprehensive approach generally describes some of the very frequent chiropractic posture issues, including:
Tissue Damage:
If the neck, lower back, mid back, or any other area is weak and/or inflexible, the individual will probably not see very much posture improvement until these conditions are adjusted and the muscles have been strengthened.
Kyphosis:
Hunchback is a degenerative spine condition that’s very prevalent in women over 60. While more advanced cases may be life threatening and may require spinal fusion surgery, most men and women respond well to therapeutic adjustments and other treatments.
Scoliosis:
This condition is much like genetically-induced kyphosis, since there’s no cure but there are several therapies available. In extreme cases, surgery may be necessary.
Un-Level Pelvis/Pelvic Tilt:
A pelvic tilt, a lower sacral base, and a femur head discrepancy can indicate a lower extremity source, but not�whether it is an anatomical or functional short leg. A clinical postural exam with lower extremity screening is the only way to make this determination.
Forward Head Posture:
The anterior positioning of the cervical spine. This posture is sometimes called Scholar’s Neck, Wearsie Neck, Hunch & or Reading Neck.It is a posture problem that is due to several factors including sleeping with the head raised too high, prolonged use of computers and cellphones, lack of developed back muscle strength and deficiency of nutrients like calcium. Potential negative effects include tingling and numbness in the arms, and a burning pain between the shoulder blades.
Treatment
As stated previously, back braces frequently mend postural issues, like slouching. As for structural problems, like scoliosis, more aggressive treatments are needed.
Conventional treatment consists of:
Heat
Massage
Stretching
Strength exercises
Supportive braces
There are a number of biofeedback tools that accurately evaluate patient progress.
As a chiropractor, your patients count on you to get much better. That almost always means accurately assessing the problem, which also means a quick and capable referral or an aggressive and well thought out therapy regimen.
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