Carpal Tunnel is a diagnosis that is becoming more and more common. But so few patients get good results from treating it.
And then you end up in a situation where the pain goes on and on . . . .
And painkillers can’t treat it.
And operations can make it worse.
And it’s often ignored – or dismissed as you being a “hypochondriac”.
A recent study in Madrid compared physiotherapy with surgery for women with Carpal Tunnel syndrome.
Unsurprisingly, (in my completely unbiased opinion!!) physiotherapy got better results in terms of pain reduction and, most critically, return to function and movement.
This was especially noticeable at the 1, 3 and 6 month marks as they didn’t have to recover from surgery.
Stopping it before it starts
I’m going to let my patient, Danielle tell the rest of this story – taking the time at the beginning to listen to her history meant she avoided unnecessary surgery and make a quick recovery.
“I began to experience numbness in my fingers and hand extending to my upper arm on the right side and occasionally in my fingers and hand on the left. I thought I had slept awkwardly, and if I ignored it, it would go away. It didn’t!
One night I was awoken by completely numb fingers, hand and arm and extreme pain. In the morning I could barely use my hand. Night after night the pain increased and day after day, I could not perform the simplest of tasks – like picking up a kettle, or using a knife and fork, writing or typing.
I went to see my GP. He diagnosed carpal tunnel and said the operation was very simple.
I did not want an operation.
So I telephoned Estelle at Bodyworks.
Estelle asked me if I had a problem with my neck, I said no, but later I mentioned that I had broken a rib and other smaller injuries falling down the stairs 9 months before. What appeared to have been an isolated incident in my wrist was traced back through my arm and neck.
Fast results
After 3 appointments I began to sleep better, I still had numbness, but the pain had started to disappear.
I now sleep every night knowing that the pain and numbness will go in time. I am having the root of the problem cured. The right treatment makes the body work!”
Listen first – to every detail!
If your doctor / therapist / consultant doesn’t take the time to talk to you, look at you and examine not just the area that hurts but the person attached to it . . . please think about whether they are treating you or just your scans.
Getting the right information to treat the root of the problem makes fixing it a simple mechanical solution.
