Carpal Tunnel Syndrome affects over 75 million people worldwide, but is often ignored until the symptoms become incapacitating. Unfortunately, at this point, drastic measures, such as surgery, are often recommended by bio-med doctors, who are often very unfamiliar with the powerful results one can get by addressing the causes of carpal tunnel with Acupuncture, Deep Tissue Massage, and Chinese Herbal medicines.
What I prefer to use in my San Diego Acupuncture practice for the natural treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, is Dry Needling into the Carpal Tunnel and the Muscles and tendons that act on the Carpal Tunnel, and also Chinese Medicine herbal formulas, made in the USA and tested for heavy metal toxicity and pesticide residue, that have been specially designed for carpal tunnel syndrome and other upper body inflammatory disorders. These herbal prescriptions relieve pain, reduce swelling, reduce inflammation, and improve circulation of blood and qi.
Their other standard response is physical therapy, which can be great sometimes, but again, all too often physical therapists have a standard response for everything: strengthen weak muscles. The problem there is that you cannot strengthen shortened weak muscles in the presence of inflammation; you need to get rid of the inflammation first. That is what Dry Needling and Acupuncture do.
Dry Needling and Myofascial Trigger point acupuncture works on the shortened inflamed muscles often are not "firing well" because the motor points have stopped working effectively. Treatment with myo-fascial style acupuncture and dry needling releases the motor points so that can start firing again; this enables muscles to tolerate renewed strengthening and at the same time releases the pressure on the tendons of the wrist joint, and also relieves the inflammation and swelling that is entraping and compressing the median nerve and causing the pain.
Someday this information will make it to the Western medical profession, and we can start working cooperatively to help people in pain. In my opinion, myo-fascial style acupuncture and dry needling should be a standard therapy option for all kinds of tendonitis, ligament sprain, repetitive use injury, and myofascial pain. It just works so beautifully.
The problem with surgery is that it is all too often counter-productive, because of its after effects (namely scarring and swelling) that often exacerbates the condition rather than alleviating it.
Acupuncture, Dry Needling, and Chinese Herbal Medicine for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, along with stretching, posture correction and massage therapy can often reverse the effects of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome if it initiated early in treatment.
If you were looking at your palm face up and you flex your wrist towards yourself, the area beneath the wrinkles is the location of the carpal tunnel. Through this tunnel are blood vessels, nerves and tendons.
In carpal tunnel surgery the surgeon cuts the protective tissue covering this area allowing the vessels, nerves and tendons more room. The main reason the carpal tunnel becomes crowded is that the muscles become painfully tight due to overuse, which causes the tendons to be come inflamed (tendonitis). Once the tendons become swollen, the nerves and blood vessels become crowded and you experience weakness, pain and other discomfort.
Carpal Tunnel Massage Therapy when correctly applied can relax and release the affected muscles, which will reduce the swelling of the tendons thereby solving the problem without drugs or invasive and often ineffective surgery.
copyright eyton shalom, l.ac. san diego, ca 2012 all rights reserved use with permission.
Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diegohttp://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com
I have found over the last twenty years, that all-too-often, Western medicine primary care and/or internal medicine docs, really don't know very much about the treatment of painful conditions with physical medicine.Their first line of treatment is typically vicodin, which relieves pain and causes constipation, but does nothing about inflammation. Or they will recommend ibuprofen, which relieves pain and inflammation, but has pretty strong side-affects (stomach and liver toxicity) in continued large doses, and does nothing to improve circulation.
What I prefer to use in my San Diego Acupuncture practice for the natural treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, is Dry Needling into the Carpal Tunnel and the Muscles and tendons that act on the Carpal Tunnel, and also Chinese Medicine herbal formulas, made in the USA and tested for heavy metal toxicity and pesticide residue, that have been specially designed for carpal tunnel syndrome and other upper body inflammatory disorders. These herbal prescriptions relieve pain, reduce swelling, reduce inflammation, and improve circulation of blood and qi.
Their other standard response is physical therapy, which can be great sometimes, but again, all too often physical therapists have a standard response for everything: strengthen weak muscles. The problem there is that you cannot strengthen shortened weak muscles in the presence of inflammation; you need to get rid of the inflammation first. That is what Dry Needling and Acupuncture do.
Dry Needling and Myofascial Trigger point acupuncture works on the shortened inflamed muscles often are not "firing well" because the motor points have stopped working effectively. Treatment with myo-fascial style acupuncture and dry needling releases the motor points so that can start firing again; this enables muscles to tolerate renewed strengthening and at the same time releases the pressure on the tendons of the wrist joint, and also relieves the inflammation and swelling that is entraping and compressing the median nerve and causing the pain.
Someday this information will make it to the Western medical profession, and we can start working cooperatively to help people in pain. In my opinion, myo-fascial style acupuncture and dry needling should be a standard therapy option for all kinds of tendonitis, ligament sprain, repetitive use injury, and myofascial pain. It just works so beautifully.
The problem with surgery is that it is all too often counter-productive, because of its after effects (namely scarring and swelling) that often exacerbates the condition rather than alleviating it.
Acupuncture, Dry Needling, and Chinese Herbal Medicine for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, along with stretching, posture correction and massage therapy can often reverse the effects of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome if it initiated early in treatment.
If you were looking at your palm face up and you flex your wrist towards yourself, the area beneath the wrinkles is the location of the carpal tunnel. Through this tunnel are blood vessels, nerves and tendons.
In carpal tunnel surgery the surgeon cuts the protective tissue covering this area allowing the vessels, nerves and tendons more room. The main reason the carpal tunnel becomes crowded is that the muscles become painfully tight due to overuse, which causes the tendons to be come inflamed (tendonitis). Once the tendons become swollen, the nerves and blood vessels become crowded and you experience weakness, pain and other discomfort.
Carpal Tunnel Massage Therapy when correctly applied can relax and release the affected muscles, which will reduce the swelling of the tendons thereby solving the problem without drugs or invasive and often ineffective surgery.
copyright eyton shalom, l.ac. san diego, ca 2012 all rights reserved use with permission.
Ayurveda, Acupuncture, and Chinese Medicine in San Diegohttp://www.bodymindwellnesscenter.com
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