Archive for carpal tunnel syndrome
Chiropractic techniques that work so dramatically with the spine can, of course, be adapted to other joints in the body. Your Chiropractor knows that as a consequence of trauma, excess vibration, or repetitive motions, virtually every joint is exposed to debilitation and range of motion limitations. So, it’s no surprise that chiropractic treatments are an effective, natural, non-invasive approach to treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
The carpal tunnel can be found within the underside of the wrist. It is a tunnel, or passage, through which the Median nerve advances on its way to stimulate and animate the hand and fingers. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome falls into the category of nerve entrapment disorders and is clearly the most common. As the name indicates, the condition takes place when a nerve is impinged or trapped between other tissues of the body producing inflammation of the nerve. This can happen if the size of the tendon increases due to irritation or overuse, or if the tunnel, itself, gets smaller due to the misalignment of the carpal bones.
In the beginning of the injury, the symptoms include pain, numbness, pins and needles, and tingling in the fingers and hand, especially the thumb and adjacent two fingers. People with CTS often awaken from sleep with these symptoms and shakeout and/or rub their hands in order to decrease the unpleasant feeling. Activity during the day can cause the hands to feel clumsy or weak, and fatigue easily. Eventually, grasping small objects with the thumb and fingers can be extremely affected and, without treatment, can result in a complete debilitation of the hand.
In order to diminish the disabling symptoms resulting from the advancement of CTS, correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment are vital. If you are experiencing the pain and disability associated with carpal tunnel syndrome, it just makes good sense for you to try the most natural approach first. As mentioned above, chiropractic care is drug-free, non-surgical, and highly effective. You can learn more about safe and natural chiropractic care, and what it can do for you, by calling your chiropractor today.
As a chiropractor, I treat a lot patients who have sustained sport injuries. In fact, injuries are not unusual with any type of sport. You can often avoid getting injured in a certain sport, however, by finding out what injury is likely to occur, and then doing whatever it takes to avoid it. The truth is, though, that sports injuries can’t always be avoided. Consequently, it’s important to be physically fit to make injury less predictable, or less traumatic.
Prior to starting a sport, such as golf, the most critical thing you can do is to be certain that you have the proper fitness level. By maintaining a healthy lifestyle, keeping your joints mobile and your muscles limber, preparing your body prior to activity, using proper form and good postures during activity, and giving yourself plenty of cool down and relaxation time, you will probably keep your body safe from injury.
Golf injuries don’t only happen to amateurs. It has been conjectured that close to a third of pro golfers playing in the same time frame are playing injured. The good news is that all-round good health and fitness can reduce the number of injuries that you may experience and might possibly preclude some of them completely.
Proper body strength in the muscle areas most employed in a sport, such as golf, is crucial. However, it’s also still prudent to make sure your spine is in good alignment and that it has good mobility prior to setting out to build muscle strength. A proficient golf swing relies on your spine’s capacity to effectually move in a rotational manner. Back injuries are the most common kind of injuries sustained by golfers. To be certain that your spine is in appropriate alignment and there is effectual movement in the vertebrae, see your chiropractor. Chiropractic treatment can make a big difference in helping you to avert back injury.
Once you’ve “straightened,” it’ll be time to strengthen. A safe, injury-free day on the green depends upon your being prepared for your golf game. You can warm up your muscles and make muscle strain less likely by doing golf stretching and flexibility exercises. Whole body range of motion (ROM) exercises will enhance flexibility, often rather fast, in all parts of the body. Furthermore, elastic band conditioning can provide functional golf range of motion advantages and can increase needed energy in the shoulders, hips and deep muscles of the core. Sports professionals, such as chiropractors, are adding elastic band training to their golf conditioning programs because the bands offer dynamic resistance that ordinary weight lifting does not offer.
A large number of golfers have painful “Golfer’s Elbow” in addition to back pain. Despite the fact that golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow are nearly the same injuries, there is a minute difference between them. Tennis elbow affects the outside of the upper arm whereas golfer’s elbow disturbs the inner arm. Golfer’s elbow, like tennis elbow, can be a reaction to a single intense action, such as (in golf) hitting the mat at the driving range or thrusting down on a hard fairway surface. Repetitive stress from smaller shocks, though, is most often the protagonist. Moreover, it can come upon those who abruptly start playing too much golf. For example, if a person that generally plays golf once or twice a month elects to play in a tournament, he or she is conceivably at risk for developing the injury.
Golf makes distinctive requests of your body. The game is generally longer than the majority of other sports and that can lead to fatigue. Whenever the body is fatigued, poor posture and decreased coordination often follow. This combination can produce an assortment of injuries. In addition, the shoulder muscles are liable to injury due to the repetitive swinging of the golf clubs. Just as attention should be given to make sure that your muscles are stretched and warmed up prior to starting your golf game, be sure to rest your body properly between games.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is often a surprising injury associated with golf. But, this injury can be the result of numerous games of golf played over a number of months constantly. As it is an affliction that occurs as a result of repetitive stress, carpal tunnel Syndrome can be a severe injury creating disability and, on occasion, requiring surgery. However, if a health professional, such as your chiropractor, discovers it at an early stage, chiropractic treatment and, sometimes, the use of a brace will relieve the problem.
Quite a few golfers seem to feel that injuries are merely an inescapable part of a golfer’s life. Nonetheless, a healthy, mobile spine, dedicated preparation, specific exercise and muscle conditioning, attaining and maintaining a an appropriate fitness level, and sensible rest and recuperation after your game is over, can make injuries much less a part of your golfing experience.
As a chiropractor, I know that risks are involved in any sport. I can help to relieve the pain of sports injuries you may have already sustained, and I can help you to straighten and strengthen to prevent injuries in the future. Let me help you to get on with your game!
Are Your Becoming "Irritated" by Excessive Cell Phone Use?
Posted by: | CommentsWe all know how “irritating” it can be when someone is talking loudly on a cell phone (as long as that person isn’t us!). Honestly, doesn’t it seem as if you can’t even take a quiet walk along the beach or in the park without someone walking by shouting into their cell phone? You could say, in fact, that nowadays the excessive use of cell phones has become a pain in our psyche. Well, the detrimental effects of excessive cell phone use apparently doesn’t stop with “pain in the brain.” A new report outlines the prevalence of “cell phone elbow,” an affliction in which users experience pain and numbness in their elbow due to extensive cell phone use. The idea is similar carpal tunnel syndrome, and the effect on the muscles and tendons concerned is essentially the same except a different nerve is pinched. Instead of being located in the wrist, cell phone elbow (”cubital tunnel syndrome”) cell phone elbow originates in the elbow region and results in pain or numbness in forearms, as well as tingling in pinkie and ring fingers. According to a study from the Cleveland Clinic, doctors are seeing more and more individuals experiencing these symptoms.
What exactly produces the problem? Holding a cell phone to the ear causes the elbow to bend, thereby stretching the nerve between muscles and tendons. When the arm is bent for long periods of time, the nerve gets inflamed. “Repetitive, sustained stretching of the nerve is like stepping on a garden hose,” said Dr. Peter J. Evans, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Hand and Upper Extremity Center. “With the hose, you’re blocking the flow of water. With the elbow, you’re blocking the blood flow to the nerve, which causes it to misfire and short circuit.” The first symptom of cell phone elbow is usually pain just below the elbow in the forearm. This is usually followed by the sensation of pins and needles in the pinkie and ring finger. In the most severe case those fingers can curl up and become difficult to use.
The good news is that the condition is easily preventable and treatable. Users are simply encouraged to avoid holding their phone in one position for too long in order to reduce the amount of strain on the affected muscles. For those who are already feeling strain, it is advisable to do simple stretches in order to help prevent some of the damage.
And, of course, a quiet walk in the park or along the beach with your cell phone turned off or, better yet, left behind, would not only go along way in reducing cell phone elbow, but it might do a lot to improve the health of your psyche as well!
This study was published in the May issue of the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.
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