Carpal Tunnel Treatment in Newtown Square, PA
You have been working well over your required 40 hours for the past three weeks, and it’s beginning to wear on your hands and wrists. Typing and using a mouse all day for a few years has become part of your norm. You keep feeling tingling in some of your fingers, and you know that if you don’t do something about it soon, you will wind up losing the functions that secured your job in the first place.
Our economy today runs on technology, and so many careers depend on your ability to use a computer for work. Sitting all day hunched over a screen does a number on your back, but it can also cause other problems. Anyone who is a writer, a graphic designer, a code developer, or even an artist can relate to the pains associated with continually using your hands and wrists for your skill.
DO YOU NEED TREATMENT FOR CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME?
At least five percent of the working population that performs a repetitive motion with their hands and wrists are affected by carpal tunnel syndrome in the United States of America. Some of the movements that lead to the development of carpal tunnel syndrome include:
- Typing
- Grasping tools (like a hammer or a knife)
- Playing an instrument
- Scanning groceries
- Folding garments
- Holding onto vibrating machinery (such as hand-grinders and saws)
- Sewing
- Packing boxes
Not only is carpal tunnel syndrome the most commonly occurring nerve compression disorder in the upper extremities, but it is the leading cause for days missed among all work-related injuries. An astounding eight million people are affected by carpal tunnel syndrome every year.
WHAT IS CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME?
A median nerve runs the length of your forearm, through a passageway in your wrist called the carpal tunnel. It extends into your hand and provides sensation to your fingers and thumb, save for the little finger. This nerve supplies the signals your muscles need to move around the base of your thumb. Carpal tunnel syndrome is the entrapment of this nerve within the carpal tunnel in your wrist.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME?
When such nerve entrapment occurs, a patient will often experience numbness, tingling, and pain in their hands, fingers, or wrists. The typical pattern of pain involves the index and middle fingers, half of the ring finger, as well as the thumb. A patient can sometimes experience the feeling of an electric shock in this area as well.
If you have carpal tunnel syndrome, you can have the same sensations traveling from your wrist into your arm. Usually, you will feel it in your arm if you are holding something in front of you, such as a steering wheel, phone, or magazine.
It is common for you to encounter weakness in whatever hand is connected to the wrist with carpal tunnel syndrome; you may tend to drop things more frequently because of it. The pressure on your median nerve will cause numbness and weakness of your thumb’s muscles, which are used to pinch things, resulting in clumsiness.
RECEIVE CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME TREATMENT IN NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA, WITH DR. DAVID W. NADLER & ASSOCIATES
If your symptoms are persistent or becoming worse, you should see a chiropractic physician right away to evaluate your symptoms and plan your treatment and recovery. Many people opt for surgery, but with carpal tunnel syndrome, the operation only provides relief for two to three years before it can return in full force.
Dr. Nadler will utilize non-surgical and non-pharmacological techniques of massaging the wrist and carpal tunnel to relieve your pain. It increases the mobility of the carpal joints to remove your entrapped median nerve effectively. For the best outcome, early diagnosis and occupational modifications are essential to prevent further damage to the carpal tunnel and its contained structures.
To find out more about the treatments available for carpal tunnel syndrome at Dr. David W. Nadler & Associates’ office in Newtown Square, PA, please call at your soonest convenience. You can also ask about other services offered for pain relief in Pennsylvania, like massage therapy and physical therapy.