Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common musculoskeletal condition. The treatment recommended is a non-surgical or conservative management at first. This is what we do at Warwick Chiropractic. Surgery is only necessary in emergency situations. This leaves the question: is there a way to know who will respond best to approaches that do not require surgery?
A study was done that included an initial evaluation then followed by a non surgical treatment. A year after the treatment, another evaluation was made. The main point of the study was to look at the long term effects of non surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome and to see if there were any failure risk factors.
The study included 49 patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Some patients had carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands, which meant that there were a total of 78 hands/wrists in the study. The treatments were as follows: ten sessions of whirlpool massage to the wrists and hands, ultrasound, and median nerve glide exercises at home. It is also important to mention that the subjects were divided up into three age groups: under 50, 51-59, and over 60.
Most of the patients experienced improvement in their condition, but some did not. Patients who had more severe cases were these people. This means that it is very important to seek care for carpal tunnel syndrome as soon as your symptoms develop. Those who kept overusing their hands or not changing any of their habits were less likely to continue to see improvements at the one year mark. Age did not seem to be an important factor in this particular study, interestingly enough.
We are actually trained in these non surgical methods that were used in this study. Moreover, we can also give you more tools and ways to improve wrist function in order to fully heal and get back to your original state.
You can call us 360-951-4504 or even make a booking online or simply walk in.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our email list to get latest news and content.