Dr Davis' Back & Wrist Pain Blog

Chiropractors and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

San Francisco Chiropractor and Wrist Pain Doctor Comments:

I just received an email from a musician in Chicago who has been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). He is a drummer and is concerned that if the problem is actually in the neck, which he suspects...performing surgery on the hand might be a waste of time.

He was wondering if chiropractic adjustments to the neck could possibly help his CTS.

I referred him to this blog, where I have written extensively about the role chiropractic care can play in treating carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries (RSI).

But then I started thinking...I am a chiropractor, most of my friends are chiropractors...and I know many chiropractors on a professional level. And...not all of them treat a lot of CTS...it is a specialty. To really do it right, the chiropractor has to be proficient at treating the upper extremities in addition to the cervical spine.

I used to teach chiropractors how to diagnose and treat carpal tunnel syndrome. The method I have used to treat CTS successfully in downtown San Francisco for 17 years is very comprehensive (Executive Express Chiropractic). We treat from the neck to the finger tips on both sides. And we adjust the rest of the spine as well...because all 24 spinal bones connect to form one unit.

Here's A Great Video For Learning How To Protect Your Back While Sitting At Work

Computer Related Back or Neck Pain?

San Francisco Chiropractor and Ergonomic Specialist Comments:

Most of the patients we treat at Executive Express Chiropractic at the Embarcadero Center, spend the majority of their day sitting in front of a computer. Lawyers, accountants, traders, bankers, executives, executive assistants, and just about everyone else...sit while they work...usually for too long, and in the wrong position.

Add the mental stress of deadlines, layoffs, financial worries, and more...and the muscles wind-up even tighter...like a guitar string.

There is a breaking point for your spinal muscles, ligaments, and tendons...a point where they have done too much work...and they become prone to injury. These types of injuries are called "non-accidental" injuries or repetitive strain injuries (RSI). Typically, RSI builds up silently, but when they hit, they hit hard. Some of the symptoms of non-accidental injuries & RSI are:

• Neck Pain
• Back Pain
• Arm and Hand Pain
• Shoulder Pain
• Pain Between Shoulders
• Numbness & Tingling in the Hands
• Weakness of Grip
• Sciatica
• Headaches

These types of musculoskeletal conditions can lead to chronic ailments that can stay with you for years, effecting your productivity and lifestyle.

So what's the solution? Well, you have to take action to increase your resistance to the stresses of sitting for long periods with repetitive motions. The information is out there...it just needs to be implemented before problems develop...which goes against human nature.

At Executive Express Chiropractic...we arm our patients with the exercises and ergonomic advice they need to counteract these stresses. Plus, our entire treatment regimen is geared toward office workers. A good chiropractor should be part of your proactive strategy. Reading this blog will help you also.

Check out this article on the excellent www.spine-health.com website entitled:

Five ways to turn the clock on computer related back pain  This article covers quite a bit of ground...check it out.

If you would like to find out if you are a candidate for care at Executive Express Chiropractic in the SF Financial District...simply call 415-392-2225, press ext1 (24 hr live operator). Ask for a consultation with Dr. Eben Davis.

         

Your Wrist Pain Might Be Coming From Your Neck!

San Francisco Back, Neck, and Wrist Pain Doctor Comments:

When you have wrist pain you don't usually think to yourself, Hmm...I wonder if this wrist pain is from pinched nerves in my neck? Especially if you have no pain in the neck. Heck, even if you do have neck pain, and wrist pain...it does not occur to most people that they may be connected.

Of course that all changes when they come to Executive Express Chiropractic at the SF Embarcadero Center. The neck is the first place we look after we check for carpal tunnel syndrome (and other problems) in the wrist. After all...the nerves that control the arm and hand don't come from the sky,,,and they don't come up the leg...they come from the neck.

These nerves exit from in between the spinal bones in the lower part of your neck...they divide and travel down the arm and into your hand. The biggest nerve, which is the median nerve, travels through an opening in the wrist bones called the carpal tunnel. Pressure on the median nerve in the carpal tunnel is called carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). CTS is rare. Usually wrist pain is not CTS..it is something else...like pressure in the neck from a pinched nerve or misaligned vertebrae.

You can have a pinched nerve or irritated nerve in the neck and not have neck pain...and still have wrist pain...confusing, but true.

Anyway...wrist pain can remain a mystery if the neck is not checked...and a good chiropractor is the person to see. A chiropractor can most likely identify the problem and fix it....neck or wrist...or both.

If you would like to find out if you are a candidate for care at our SF Financial District Back and Wrist Pain Center...simply call 415-392-2225, press 1(24 hr live operator). Ask for a complimentary consultation with Dr. Eben Davis at Executive Express Chiropractic. 

Wrist Pain from Sports Injury? Try Icing First

San Francisco Chiropractor and Wrist Pain Doctor Comments:

Wrist pain is a common sports injury. After all...we use our hands for most sports...especially sports like tennis, golf, wind surfing, weightlifting, motorcycle riding, bowling, and more.

Usually mild pain will just go away in a day or two on it's own. But sometimes it wont...and this is when you can run into problems...especially if you use your hands a lot ...say working on a computer. A minor wrist sprain can turn into a big problem if you ignore the pain and put stresses into the injured area.

Actually, there are some things you can do right after you hurt your wrist that will speed up the recovery and reduce the likelihood that the wrist strain gets worse. Of course there are also various grades of severity of wrist sprains...depending on how bad your injury is. Some can be very serious and require medical attention.

The best thing you can do if you feel minor pain in your wrist after sports, is to ice. And the best way to ice the wrist is to submerge the hand into a bucket of ice. Put a little bit of water in there, but not too much. Just enough to break up the ice and cover the hand to above the wrist. Make sure to keep your hand in the ice for at least 10 minutes. Then, do it again a few hours later. Just dump some of the water out that melted. You can usually get just the right amount of ice by emptying out your ice maker.

If the pain is still there the next day, do it again. And, you may consider wrapping the wrist in tape...they sell taping kits at the drug store (or a wrist splint)...so that you keep the wrists in a neutral position while working.

If the pain still does not go away or gets worse...consider seeing a chiropractor that specializes in arm and hand pain. You may have a wrist bone that is out of alignment, and it can be adjusted back into position. Or, you may have a more severe wrist injury than ice alone can help. A medical doctor, acupuncturist, or physical therapist will also know what to do.

If you would like to find out if you are a candidate for care at Executive Express Chiropractic at the Embarcadero Center...call 415-392-2225, ext 1 (24 hr live operator). Ask for a complimentary consultation with Dr. Eben Davis.

 

Chiropractic Care Just Makes Sense

San Francisco Financial District Chiropractor Comments:

So...you have neck pain. low back pain, wrist pain, a bad knee (that hurts), and headaches, stress...where do you go?

Hmmm...let me think...the emergency room?  Your Medical Doctor? An Orthopedic Doctor?  A Physical Therapist? An Acupuncturist? Heck...maybe you see all of them. Why not just take a couple of months off of work and really try to get to the bottom of this...what's going on here???

Or...maybe you just pick up the phone or drop by your chiropractors office...where they can treat all these problems at once...it's business as usual.

At least that's how it is at Executive Express Chiropractic at the Embarcadero Center in downtown San Francisco. It's rare that a patient only has one or two symptoms. Usually it's a laundry list, because the nerves that exit the spine control all bodily functions. So when the spine is out of alignment, it can cause problems all over. And most patients are all out of alignment.

The most common problems we treat at our Financial District Chiropractic Center are: low back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, arm and hand pain, headaches, rib pain, upper back pain, and knee and foot pain. And sometimes patients come in with everything...and we treat it all at once...in less than 30 minutes.   

Got Wrist Pain? Live In San Francisco? Good Luck

San Francisco Chiropractor and Wrist Pain Doctor Comments:

Having trouble finding a doctor to help you with wrist pain? Well...your not alone. There's just not a whole lot of choices...even in downtown San Francisco.

And, if you do find a doctor that claims they can help you with your arm and hand pain...how are they going to do it...with wrist splints and Motrin? With surgery? With physical therapy?

Hey...sometimes you need all of these things...but sometimes you don't.

Will your hand and wrist pain doctor only examine your painful wrist...or will she check your entire upper extremity, including your shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fingers...on both sides?

What about your neck? After all...the nerves that innervate and control your hands originate from the cervical spine. In fact, it's quite possible to have severe pain in your hand/s, and the main problem is a herniated disc in the neck...and get this...you have NO neck pain.

I have been treating arm and hand pain at my Carpal Tunnel Injury Centers in the San Francisco Financial District for over 16 years. First is was Front Street Chiropractic...and now it's Executive Express Chiropractic at the Embarcadero Center.

For about 12 years in a row, I gave at least 3-4 seminars per month at my carpal tunnel center...and most of the time we had a waiting list. In addition, I helped companies such as Pacific Gas & Electric, The San Francisco Unified School District, The Dept. Of Transportation, The United Postal Workers Union, Bain & Company, Boston Consulting, and  many, many more...educate their employees on safety in the workplace, ergonomics...and repetitive stress injury prevention.

And during this journey I have successfully treated hundreds and hundreds of Bay Area patients with wrist and hand pain.

 

Severe Hand Pain Out Of Nowhere?

San Francisco Chiropractor and Carpal Tunnel Doctor Comments:

I just had a patient come in with severe hand pain. He has no history of hand pain...and he did not do anything to trigger it. Some of the things that could trigger a bout of hand pain are...using a new piece of exercise equipment...or putting together some furniture with a screw driver.

Or, going on a long bike ride...basically, some activity that your hands were just not used to. But none of that occurred...so what's the deal with this hand pain...where did it come from?

Hand pain, just like any other symptom can be the result of a long standing problem that has been building silently...especially with someone that uses their hands a lot...day in and day out. So, computer operators, hair cutters, meat packers, and yes...office workers, are prone to hand problems...especially if they also have hobbies that involve extensive use of the hands. Hobbies like tennis, gaming, photography, painting, motorcycle riding, etc.

And...patients are more prone to arm or hand pain if they have a history of some sort of injury to the arm, hand, or neck...yes neck. The neck is where the nerves exit that travel down the arm and into the hands. This is the power supply to the upper extremities. 

Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome A Thing Of The Past?

San Francisco Chiropractor & Carpal Tunnel Doctor Comments:

I have been helping patients with neck, arm and hand pain for over 16 years in the San Francisco Financial District. I was around when Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) was in the headlines almost every day. In fact...we had a CTS Seminar at one of my clinics twice a week for almost 8 years in row...waiting list only.

So what happened to CTS anyway...how come we don't really hear about it anymore? My opinion...for what it's worth...doctors came to realize that true carpal tunnel syndrome is actually rare. I have been saying this all along. However, the signs and symptoms we associate with CTS are common. Here is a partial list:

• Hand pain
• Numbness & Tingling in the arm and hand
• Weakness of grip
• Night pain (in the hand)
• Arm pain
• Radiating pain from neck to hands

I think when the Dot-com bubble crashed...it took CTS with it. Sure, people that spend a lot of time working on computers or with their hands are prone to carpal tunnel symptoms...but the cause is usually something other than true CTS.

Back, Neck, Arm, and Hand Pain: Are They All Connected Somehow?

San Francisco Chiropractor Comments:

Question: I often times have low back pain and neck pain that travels into the arms and hands...all at once. Either they are OK...or I have all of these symptoms all at once. It can be really bad, and my medical doctor just gives me pain pills and tells me to take it easy. It happens maybe 1-2x per month. What causes this? 

Answer: Actually, this is not that unusual. The back, neck, arms, and hands are all connected to each other by the nervous system. The nervous system consist of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. The nerves branch off the spinal cord and exit from in between spinal vertebra and connect to all the parts of the body.

The nerves that exit from the neck bones, travel down the arm and into the hand. So any pressure on these nerves from a misaligned vertebrae (subluxation) can cause pain in the arm and hand...because nerve pain can travel down the nerve (radicular pain).

And, since all the bones of the spine are interconnected...it may be that you have a couple of real specific vertebral subluxations that move in and out of alignment depending on your activities and stress levels. I call these transitional subluxations...they can be quite unpredictable.