Video Blog: Everything About Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Most jobs these days require sitting in your desk chair and typing dozens of documents all day long. Studies show that this habit causes many health problems, including carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). This is a painful condition that affects your mobility, efficiency and quality of life. Your trusted massage therapy clinic, Terrapin Care Center, discusses the condition in more detal.

Anatomy

Carpal tunnel refers to a narrow passageway located in your wrist. Its floor and sides are surrounded by small bones while its roof is covered by a tough band of connective tissue, known as the transverse carpal ligament. It is where some muscle tendons and your median nerve pass through. The latter controls your palm’s muscle movements and gives sensation to your thumb and nearby two or three fingers.

Cause and Symptoms

According to your expert pain management doctor, CTS occurs when swelling of the surrounding tissues causes tension to build up within the passageway. This may also put pressure on the median nerve, restricting the affected hand’s sensation and movement.

Typing for long hours and other repetitive hand use often lead to compression of your median nerve, resulting in CTS. Your hands, along with the thumb, index and middle fingers, may feel numb. Pain, as well as tingling and occasional shock-like sensations, are also common. Weakness and hand tremors may cause you to frequently drop things as well.

Our Recommended Management

We may suggest undergoing chiropractic manipulation or physical therapy as a form of CTS management. These are conservative ways to gently reshape and stretch fascia tissue surrounding your carpal tunnel, reducing the pain and numbness in this area while improving your hand’s mobility.

The Graston Technique® is also an effective method to correct CTS. It’s an evidence-based, instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization modality that breaks down fascial restrictions and scar tissue, maintaining your hand’s range of motion. If your CTS causes you severe pain, we may advise administering nerve root blocks for your enhanced comfort.

For more information about CTS and our treatment options, call us at (301) 220-1930, or complete our form. We serve Silver Spring and nearby MD areas.