Have you been treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and no matter what you do it refuses to get better?
What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is challenging, it’s quite a problematic condition and it’s caused when the median nerve which is the nerve that innervates the muscles that flex the wrist and the fingers becomes irritated and compressed by the tendons of the wrist of finger flexors.
The carpal bones are arranged with the ten flexor tendons that sit in a little channel between the hamate bone and the trapezium. Then the median nerve, which innervates the flexor muscles of the fingers and wrists, sits in a little fat pad above.
The whole thing is contained in a thick fibrous piece of connective tissue called the retinaculum and it means that when things become a little bit irritated there’s not a lot of space and the median nerve becomes compressed.
Why is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome so stubborn?
There are three main reasons why carpal tunnel syndrome will not resolve or respond to treatment. The first reason is it’s not carpal tunnel syndrome it’s actually been misdiagnosed and it’s actually something else!
The second reason is that the cause of the condition has not been identified and addressed. So carpal tunnel syndrome is a repetitive strain injury and it’s often caused through an overuse of the finger or wrist flexors through some activity or sport.
A lot of people suffer from it in the workplace by using a mouse or keyboard excessively and so a lot of movements of the mouse over a sustained or prolonged period of time causes inflammation in the tendons which causes the compression on the nerve.
If the condition hasn’t been effectively identified then you cannot begin to resolve this condition, so that’s one of the reasons why the condition doesn’t respond and it may not be something obvious, it might be something that you’re doing without realising it and that is contributing to the carpal tunnel syndrome condition.
The third reason why the condition doesn’t resolve is often people try and rehabilitate it too soon and too aggressively. So when you get irritation in the tendons often one of the reasons for that is due to a shortening or contracture in the flexor muscles.
Treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
It makes sense to try and lengthen the tissues off and to reduced tension into the into the muscles themselves, but if the condition is irritated and you’re getting pain, then a part of the brain called the cerebellum will not allow those muscles to relax. So when you get inflammation and pain in the body, the brain responds to pain by contracting the muscles around the area which is vulnerable.
In the case of the carpals the flexor tendons become irritated, and you get a contracture in the flexor muscles as a consequence. Now if you don’t resolve the pain first and at least get the condition symptoms under control you will not be able to rehabilitate the muscles.
How can I resolve Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Now if you’ve been treating carpal tunnel syndrome for some time and it’s not resolved or indeed if you’re suffering from some other kind of wrist or finger pain my advice would be to find the cause first. You can do that by visiting our pain assessment tool and the intelligent software will analyse your symptoms and provide a cause for your pain.
You’ll be able to download a treatment guide and this is all you need to treat your symptoms and resolve the condition for good in the comfort of your own home. It will tell you everything you need to know about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, it’s got tips and advice on how to manage the pain and how to rehabilitate it to stop it from coming back.