Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), or the symptoms associated with it, affect several adults at least one time in their lives. It’s classified as a nerve entrapment syndrome. It most commonly occurs where the median nerve crosses under the transverse ligament in the wrist. The flexor tendons of the fingers also cross under this ligament, along with the median nerve. CTS is the most common nerve compression injury in the body and is the most common and costly repetitive strain injury.

CTS occurs mostly in women, with some studies showing as much as a 5:1 ratio of women to men, with the most common age group affected being people from 40 to 60 years old. The wrist used most often is normally the involved wrist, but in some cases it may be in both wrists, with the symptoms being more severe in the dominant wrist.

There are many possible causes of CTS including repetitive use of hands and fingers, forceful grasping of objects, fine hand movements, wrist pressure and/or vibration, prolonged computer usage combined with poor wrist positioning, and wrist sprains. Other possibilities may include wrist fracture, arthritis, diabetes, and hormonal changes associated with menopause or pregnancy. Recent studies have show up to 50 percent of all CTS cases are of an unknown cause.

Now that I’ve described what CTS is and how it’s caused, lets talk about what some of the symptoms are, how to tell if you have it, and how it may be helped. Typical symptoms include paresthesia (numbness and tingling) in the hand—mostly including the thumb and first two fingers—pain at night, sometimes severe enough to awaken you; weakness in grasping, thumb pinching, and other thumb movements; and sharp pain when grasping objects. In many cases, the patients have experienced pain into their arm and even lower neck tightness and pain.

CTS is normally diagnosed through tests which may include an inventory of symptoms, manual clinical tests such as compressing the wrist bones to reproduce the symptoms, X-rays to determine bone alignment and to detect possible fractures or tumor, and in severe cases, electroconductive studies of the median nerve to determine the degree of nerve compression.

In my office I see CTS symptoms occur from other possibilities including subluxations or misalignments of the neck vertebrae causing decreased nerve function down the arm and into the wrist. I also have found misalignment of the eight bones in the wrist that form the carpal tunnel may cause compression of this nerve.

This can be treated through adjustments of both the involved vertebrae in the neck and the bones in the wrist, stretching and strengthening exercises, massage, splinting of the involved wrist to limit mobility during the healing process, and vitamin supplementation.

Here are a few tips to help decrease the chances of carpal tunnel syndrome: avoid prolonged wrist flexion or extension, keep your wrists straight, use a wrist support pad when typing or at a computer, regularly stretch and strengthen your wrists, and periodically change your computer mouse to be used be your other hand.

There may be hope if you have CTS and want an alternative to surgery. Call a chiropractor knowledgeable in this condition.

If you have questions for the author, e-mail them to info@peoriamagazines.com. TPW