Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Misdiagnosed
Posted: Jan 30 2012 Topic:
This week a patient came in for his first visit. He is suffering from chronic recurrent back pain. In any consultation I will take a thorough history to see if there are any related problems and get a complete picture of an individual’s overall health. It was revealed that he had undergone surgery about 20 years ago to relieve carpal tunnel symptoms.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition where the median nerve is compressed at the wrist. The median nerve originates from nerve roots of the cervical spine (neck) and travels through the arm to the hand. Typical symptoms include numbness, tingling and pain in the hand and fingers. A person may also have pain in the wrists and loss of grip strength. The symptoms often come on at night.
Despite the fact that this patient had surgery at the wrist, the symptoms have persisted. Subsequent to the history and examination I felt that x-rays of the cervical spine were warranted. The x-rays revealed severe degeneration of the lower neck between C4and C7. These are the levels that give rise to the nerve roots that supply the arm.
When the spine is subluxated it causes premature wear and tear. The discs deteriorate and bone spurs develop. The passages through which the nerves travel become narrowed. It is important to remember that the nerves that come from the spinal cord control and regulate every single function in your body. When your spine degenerates it can distort the messages and have extremely detrimental effects on your health.
In this particular case the cause of the nerve irritation was misdiagnosed. The primary impingement was not at the wrist but in fact at the spine. This misdiagnoses is extremely common. It is my experience that almost all cases of so called carpal tunnel syndrome involve nerve irritation at the spine.
To see the level of degeneration that this patient has, the problem would have been progressing for decades. Had he had the correct diagnoses and the proper chiropractic care the picture would have been very different for both the symptoms in his hands and his overall health.
If you or someone you know has “carpal tunnel syndrome” please get checked by a chiropractor to make sure the problem is not in your spine.