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One of the greatest fears of an office worker is hand numbness because we all know that person who has had carpal tunnel syndrome and had to have surgery and possible switch careers due to the inability to type. Fortunately, there are a lot of different causes of hand numbness and they do not all lead down the path to surgery.
The hand numbness really depends on what part of the hand is numb as there are three nerves that give us our sensations in the hand. The median, radial and ulnar nerve. The median nerve supplies sensation to the palm and usually the first three and a half fingers (the green lines), the ulnar nerve also known as your “funny bone” supplies sensation to your fourth and fifth fingers on the palm and back of your hand (teal lines) and the radial nerve provides sensation to the back side of your hand and the back side of the first three and a half fingers.
The carpal tunnel is an area in your wrist where the median nerve travels through. This specific tunnel is small in nature and compression on this area can lead to the median nerve being crushed in the process. If you look at a nerve as a water hose and compression on the nerve as someone stepping on the hose, this can show an example as to what is happening. The flow of the water is slowed by someone stepping on the hose and the flow of the nerve sensations of the median nerve are slowed due to the compression at the carpal tunnel.
The most accurate way to check is to have a nerve conduction study ordered by your family doctor. However, there are a few clues that can guide us to see if you actually have the classic signs of carpal tunnel.
1) Where is the numbness?
2) Can we create or intensify the symptoms through testing?
3) How did the numbness start?
Carpal tunnel syndrome can occur more frequently during pregnancy because swelling is a common occurrence in pregnancy and since the carpal tunnel is such a small and compact area, any tightening of that space can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome to occur. For the pregnant clients, it is not recommended to go through any surgical interventions for carpal tunnel unless it is uncontrollable. Often times, once the childbirth has occurred the pregnancy related swelling decreases and the carpal tunnel syndrome also goes away.
In the meantime, it is suggested that pregnant women experiencing these symptoms can have a lot of relief and management of these symptoms by seeing conservative care practitioners such as our amazing team of Vancouver Chiropractors (Including Dr. Jenine McCann who specializes with pregnancy clients), our physiotherapists and registered massage therapists! Often times, some easy exercises, minor treatments and education can help to manage these conditions.
Here are a few exercises that you can try to decrease your symptoms.
For the Median Nerve Floss:
a. Bring your affected arm away and straight out to the side. Then bring the arm backwards so that it is behind you.
b. Look away from that hand and bring those fingers backwards, you may feel a strong stretch only hold for 1 second.
c. Look towards your hand and let your hand bend towards your head like you are looking into a mirror.
d. Repeat 10-15x.
For the Lacrosse Ball to Pec Muscle Mobility Work
1) Take a lacrosse or tennis ball and pin it between your chest and the corner of a wall or doorframe
2) Once you find a tender spot, flex your arm up towards your ear. Also move your arm to the side.
3) Work your way around your chest, searching for different areas that are sore
4) Repeat on different areas until you feel relief (suggested ~10 arm movements per spot).
As always, if you have any questions about your conditions and would like to schedule an appointment with us at Baseline Health and Wellness you can give us a call at 6046744027 or schedule online at www.baselinewellness.ca
Provided by Dr. Kody Au, Vancouver Chiropractor
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