View our 3D animated model for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome,this 3D model can be found listed under “Types of Pain” in the “Wrist Pain” Section
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome affects the wrists, an injury that can prevent people from working, and making the wrists and hands very painful. This is a wrist condition that can result in chronic wrist and hand pain.
Carpal: Across the back of the wrist, eight small irregular bones (called carpals) are aligned in 2 rows forming a letter “C.” There is a tough ligament attaching across the inner side of the wrist, and thus forming the Carpal Tunnel.
Tunnel: An opening through which something passes through. Nine tendons of the muscles of the forearm that move the fingers along with the soft median nerve pass through this narrow tunnel. This tunnel is about the size of your little finger.
In carpal tunnel syndrome the median nerve becomes either compressed, irritated or swollen resulting in pain.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a condition in which the median nerve becomes irritated and swells. During the swelling the pressure in the canal increases leading to further irritation and compression of the nerve. This leads to more swelling and nerve irritation.
What are Carpal Tunnel Syndrome symptoms?
Typical symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome include parenthesis (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 with increased weakness.
What treatment is available for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Before commencing the treatment patient should be evaluated for the cause of the nerve swelling. Some systemic conditions such as under active thyroid can lead to the swelling of the tendons, thus putting pressure onto the median nerve.
Patients should also be evaluated for possible compression of the nerves at the neck, shoulder and elbow levels that can also present itself as a pain and weakness in the wrist. In majority of cases of wrist and hand pain and weakness the primarily cause is compression of the nerve root at the neck level that forms nerves of the arm and hand. That’s why some patients still experience symptoms of carpal tunnel even after the surgery or cortisone injections were performed.
Cold or Low level laser therapy applied over the carpal tunnel has proven to be very effective in reduction of swelling and pain management. Please contact us if you require further information.
See our Cold or Low Level Laser Therapy Section under Pain Relief.
The lasers used at Central Chiropractic Clinic are certified as Cold Laser. For the past 30 years the technology of Cold Laser Therapy (also known as Low Level Laser Therapy) has been formally accepted in North America and in many other parts of the world such as Europe, Russia and Japan. In all this time there have been no recorded long-term adverse effects from low level laser therapy. It is considered to be non-invasive, painless and safe.
Cold Laser Therapy uses laser light energy to stimulate cells to function optimally. In the body, light sensitive chromophores and other elements within the cell absorb energy, initiating a series of important photochemical changes such as increased production of ATP. The mitochondria and Kreb’s Cycle stimulation initiates the production of ATP, providing the cell with the extra energy needed to accelerate the healing process and positively influence pain. These activities can occur in all types of cells and includes ligament, nerves, cartilage and muscle.
Cold Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is a Handheld, non-invasive, light-emitting medical device which is used over different areas of the body. It provides an unmatched advantage in the treatment of conditions such as;
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
