Don't Have Carpal Tunnel Surgery in Ashland OH Until You Read This

Have you recently been diagnosed with carpal tunnel and live in  Ashland OH?  Have you been dealing with the symptoms by medicating or therapy but the problem hasn't gone away? Maybe you're just wondering if you have carpal tunnel?

What does it feel like?  Does it ache or tingle?  Do you have numbness in the hands or loss of grip strength? Is it worse at night when you lay down or when you wake up in the morning?  Is it affecting your daily activities or even your ability to work?  Many patients experience an array of symptoms in the arms and hands that may start out sporadically but eventually lead to more persistent or even constant pain.  Many report the inability to sleep well because it wakes them up at night and eventually suffer the effects of fatigue.  If you are experiencing any of the following, keep reading:

• Numbness or pain in your hand, forearm, or wrist that awakens you at night. (Shaking or moving your fingers may ease this numbness and pain.)
• Occasional tingling, numbness, "pins-and-needles" sensation, or pain. The feeling is similar to your hand "falling asleep."
• Numbness or pain that gets worse while you are using your hand or wrist. You are most likely to feel it when you grip an object with your hand or bend (flex) your wrist.
• Occasional aching pain in your forearm between your elbow and wrist.
• Stiffness in your fingers when you get up in the morning.

With moderate or severe carpal tunnel symptoms, you may have numbness or reduced strength and grip in your fingers, thumb, or hand. It may be hard to:

• Do simple hand movements, such as stirring a pot or holding a fork. You may accidentally drop objects.
• Pinch an object between your thumb and first finger.  Use your thumb while doing simple tasks such as opening a jar or using a screwdriver. If the symptoms remain long-term, the thumb muscles can atrophy (get smaller and weaker).

What causes this problem in Ashland OH?

It's caused by pressure on your median nerve, which runs the length of the arm, goes through a passage in the wrist called the carpal tunnel, and ends in the hand. The median controls the movement and feeling of your thumb, and also the movement of all your fingers except your pinky.  This nerve may become entrapped by the ligaments in your wrist due to repetitive type motions, injury, obesity, pregnancy, and other conditions.  Sometimes the median nerve may become entrapped elsewhere.

Did you know, that you have a big bundle of nerves, arteries, and veins called the brachial plexus, that begins the base of your neck and goes down the arms to your hands and fingers? The median nerve is a part of the brachial plexus.  The bones of the neck surround and protect the brachial plexus.  If a misalignment of a bone in the neck occurs, it can affect the brachial plexus, often mimicking carpal tunnel symptoms.  This is why many who opt for carpal tunnel surgery still have the problem even after surgery.  Proper diagnosis of subluxation, the misalignment of a vertebra, is key.  Chiropractors are expertly trained to detect and correct these types of problems.   Misalignment of the vertebra can happen in many ways.  It may occur because of repetitive type motions, accident, injury, poor posture, sports and other physical stressors.  When this happens, the only way to correct the problem is to re-align the vertebra through a specific, corrective chiropractic adjustment.  If you have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel or have similar symptoms, don't ignore or cover up the problem with a medication.  It will only get worse.  If you have tried therapy with minimal results, or just wonder if you may have subluxation and you live in Richland or Ashland County, give us a call.