Carpal tunnel, assessed honestly along the whole nerve.
What causes carpal tunnel syndrome?
- Repetitive hand and wrist work, from a keyboard to a production line.
- Sustained wrist positions, including the way many people sleep with a bent wrist.
- Fluid changes from pregnancy or thyroid issues that crowd the tunnel.
- Health conditions like diabetes that affect the nerve itself.
- In some cases, irritation further up the nerve at the neck that adds to the load at the wrist.
Where chiropractic care fits, and where it does not
- A careful assessment of the nerve from the neck to the wrist, to see what is contributing where.
- Hands-on care for any mechanical contributor higher up the path, where the exam finds one.
- Movement and workstation guidance to take repetitive load off the wrist.
- A straight recommendation, including a referral for the wrist itself when that is the right call.
What does an assessment cost, and do you take insurance?
- No referral needed to book a first visit.
- We go over the costs with you before anything begins, so you know what to expect.
- An honest assessment, and a referral rather than a course of care when that is the right answer.
Carpal tunnel questions we hear most
Honestly, the research has not shown that it resolves carpal tunnel itself, and we will not claim it does. Where the assessment finds a mechanical contributor higher up the nerve, at the neck or forearm, we can work on that part. For the compression at the wrist, we will give you a straight recommendation, which sometimes means pointing you elsewhere.
For the assessment and the honesty. Numbness and tingling in the hand has several possible sources along the nerve, and not all of them are the wrist. A careful whole-path look can find a contributor that is workable, or it can confirm that the problem is at the wrist and get you to the right care faster. Either way you leave with a clear answer.
Sometimes a neck problem contributes to hand symptoms, and sometimes what is labeled carpal tunnel has a component higher up the nerve. The exam is how we tell. We will not talk you into a neck story to sell you care; if the wrist is the problem, we will say so.
Ease the repetitive wrist load where you can, keep the wrist neutral rather than bent, and many people are helped by a wrist splint at night to stop it curling while they sleep. If you have constant numbness, or the muscle at the base of the thumb is visibly wasting, get it assessed promptly, because a nerve under lasting pressure should not be left.
Numbness that has become constant rather than coming and going, weakness or clumsiness in the hand, or visible wasting of the muscle at the base of the thumb means the nerve has been under pressure long enough to need a prompt medical opinion. That is not something to work around with a course of care.