Determine CTS Treatment
Tom Nicholson | April 9, 2011There are many treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome, and the approach that is taken depends upon how severely a person is affected with the condition. There are many different levels of severity when it comes to CTS, and the condition typically begins with mild tingly or numb sensations in the fingers. The severe form of the condition eventually results in an inability to use the hands without feeling pain.
When carpal tunnel syndrome is diagnosed in the beginning stages, a night splint is often the first approach to treatment. The splint serves to immobilize the wrist and prevent it from bending too far forward or backward, to alleviate the pressure on the median nerve. Many people find that they get a certain measure of relief from the pins and needles feeling that often comes at night with carpal tunnel syndrome. A splint can also be worn during the day, though it limits mobility. Many CTS sufferers find that a splint brings a good measure of symptomatic relief.
However, if this doesn’t provide complete relief, those afflicted with the condition may use aspirin, ibuprofen, or other NSAID pain medications to treat the pain. When used alone, these medications don’t cure the underlying carpal tunnel problem, though they do help reduce inflammation. These medicines make the symptoms more manageable, but may obscure the pain and make it more difficult to tell whether the CTS is resolving. In carpal tunnel cases that don’t involve inflammation, these medicines have no effect on the condition, and they certainly won’t alleviate the numbness or pins and needles sensation that many people experience. While they can help with short term pain relief, they can result in side effects when taken for an extended period of time. Aspirin, for instance, can cause bleeding in the stomach.
When these treatments don’t seem to be working, steroidal drugs like cortisone may be injected under the skin in the area of the wrist. If carpal tunnel problems have been brought on by pregnancy, this treatment might be used at first anyway. If they are successful, there can be relief from most symptoms for as long as six months. If more frequent injections are needed, patients can get a new injection every six weeks at the most. The cortisone spreads around the median nerve’s surrounding tendons and swollen membranes and causes them to shrink.
As an alternative to injections, some people try electrical iontophresis. This process uses electricity to guide the medicine molecules to the proper location for more effective symptom relief. While minimally invasive when compared with injections, this option is also less effective.
When other treatment options have been exhausted, carpal tunnel release (CTR) is the last line of treatment. This involves surgery to relieve the symptoms of CTS. In this procedure, the ligament at the top of the carpal tunnel is cut. The surgery may be performed endoscopically or with a traditional incision. Endoscopy involves making a tiny incision and introducing an endoscope that has an equally tiny camera attached. The surgical procedure is visualized on the television screen, leading to a smaller incision and less invasive surgery. Open surgery requires that the wrist be incised and opened up completely while the ligament is cut.
Even though each of these treatments can be effective, there are important disadvantages to each of them. Not all approaches work for all people. Fortunately, there’s an inexpensive and non-invasive way to go about getting relief from carpal tunnel symptoms. There are exercises that can be done that cost little or nothing and can yield permanent results. These exercises should be the first treatment option considered by those who are suffering from the condition.
CTS can virtually always be treated, but that doesn’t mean that the treatment is necessarily easy or desirable. Its effects can range from mildly irritating wrist, hand, and finger tingling that needs to be constantly shaken out to severe pain and partial debilitation of the hand. Treatment is discovered by Tom Nicholson, carpal tunnel exercises that are so simple to do they can be done by anyone.













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