Carpal Tunnel and Computer Work
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Clear Lake Chiropractor Comments: Approximately 2/3rds of employees from industrialized countries use a computer on a daily basis and one of five spend at least 75% of their total work time behind a computer. It’s no wonder so many suffer from neck, shoulder, arm pain, including carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). There are many reasons for the presence of CTS in office workers who utilize a computer. The following is a partial list of causes:
- The computer screen is not positioned correctly in front of the worker forcing the neck to be rotated to the side or the head has to look up or down too far.
- The mouse and/or keyboard is placed on top of a counter, too high to operate without significant bending of the wrist, often against the sharp edge of the counter.
- The shape of the keyboard is flat, forcing the hands and wrists to pronate (roll inwards) too far. This places more pressure on the nerves in the forearms.
- The use of a mouse usually requires the entire arm to move, frequently running off the mouse pad requiring repositioning.
- Paper work data that needs to be entered in the computer is placed too far off to the side and sustained neck rotation is required during the data entering process.
- The chair and computer desk do not fit the person’s height (either too high or too low) and/or the feet don’t touch the floor.
- There is too much glare from windows or overhead lighting making it difficult to see the screen.
- In the aging worker, poor eye sight requires the use of magnifiers which can be quite distorting when the head is moved, even a small amount.
- There are often other medical conditions that the computer operator may have that increase the likelihood of developing CTS such as obesity, hormone replacement therapy, diabetes mellitus, hypothyroid, the use of birth control pills, and others.
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Therefore, the treatment of CTS must be multi-factorial and sometimes address one or more additional health issues that may co-exist. There are also frequently, many similar overuse types of conditions present in addition to CTS such as neck strain, thoracic outlet syndrome, nerve compression at one or more locations such as the neck, shoulder, elbow, forearm as well as at the carpal tunnel of the wrist. Each patient’s case is unique and a careful history is usually needed to uncover these potential contributing conditions so they can all be properly managed in addition to CTS. Because we spend a lot of our daytime hours at work, a careful work related history is important to identify potential “ergonomic” (design) culprits that can be fixed with simple workstation adjustments. These may include mouse/keyboard placement to an under the desk pull out tray to eliminate the need to overly bend the wrists and eliminate the pressure from the counter top edge. Raising a chair and placing a box under the feet while sitting (for shorter workers), switching to a track ball mouse so only thumb movement is needed to move the pointer (or a touchpad as found on most laptops), an ergonomic keyboard (curved, not flat), moving the screen in front and slightly down from eye level, prop paperwork on a stand-up tray close to the screen so only eye movement is needed, wearing appropriate quality eye glasses possibly with bi- or trifocals, are some potential work station remedies. Treatment that addresses all the contributing issues frequently includes neck, mid-back, shoulder, elbow, forearm, and wrist/hand. Chiropractic care is especially well suited to address these issues because of the whole body treatment approach utilized. We are also well trained in evaluating the work related and will work with your employer to cooperatively improve problems that may be perpetuating the condition. If you or a loved one is suffering with carpal tunnel syndrome, sharing this information may be one of most significant acts of kindness that you can give to those that you care about.
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment with your houston chiropractor by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
Quality of Life with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
NASA Area Chiropractor comments: We sometimes take our hands for granted and fail to realize just how important they are to everyday life and indeed, living our life. Hands tell us who we are through our gestures and unique talents. If you think about all they do, everyday, from tying our shoes to generating income, it is staggering. Our hands also occupy a big place in our brains. The nerve cells in the brain are devoted, to a large degree, to hand function. It takes a lot of brainpower to play a guitar or piano, to write an essay, or to caress a friend with a loving touch.
So when hand function is diminished, the loss can be devastating. Such is the case with carpal tunnel syndrome. To anyone who suffers from this disorder, the loss is obvious. When quality of life 
is studied in those with carpal tunnel syndrome, there are many aspects that are affected. Researchers (J Hand Surg Am 24(2):398) have learned that physical functioning is greatly affected. A person may not be able to work or engage in the hobbies they once loved. What’s more, there is also diminished mental quality of life, and reductions in vitality in these patients.
Our clinic treats patients with carpal tunnel symptoms in a comprehensive manner. We try to find the cause of the nerve compression. Sometimes it’s at the wrist and sometimes the neck is affected creating radiating pain down into the hand. Sometimes both the wrist and neck are affected (this is called double crush syndrome). In any case, getting back on to the road of recovery begins with an accurate diagnosis. Our treatments are specific to the cause of your problem. If the problem has been long term, then you may need rehabilitative exercises to restore the strength of your arm muscles and some patients will require different stretching techniques to help loosen tight muscles. If your neck is out of alignment or has poor posture, this may also need to be corrected for full recovery to occur. Eating the proper foods that do not add to wrist inflammation may also be a part of your care plan.
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment at BeecherChiropractic.com or by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
Can I Diagnose Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Myself?
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Clear Lake Doctor of Chiropractic comments: We are so used to fixing everyday problems ourselves in society today, that we sometimes do this when it comes to health care. The “can-do” American spirit of “pulling yourself up by your boot straps” is alive and well. We are bombarded by advertising messages that tell us if we have a pain in the wrist or back, then just go to the drug store and get some pills. The messages seem to make sense. If I have a problem with my wrist, then it must be carpal tunnel syndrome, right?
Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that hand and wrist pain or numbness can come from many 
different causes-some even very serious diseases such as cancer. Even a disease such as diabetes can show up as wrist or hand pain. There are also different types of arthritis that can show similar symptoms. Only through x-rays and laboratory tests can these distinctions be made.
Also at issue is the fact that long nerves run from your neck and spinal cord and down your arm to the hand. An injury anywhere along the course of this nerve, could make you feel pain in your fingers or hand. And then, of course, there are wrist traumas or repetitive motion injuries that can further complicate the picture.
This should illustrate to you how important a thorough diagnosis is before deciding on a cause for a problem and a course of action to get it resolved. Even a detailed history by a doctor will not be enough to determine if you have carpal tunnel syndrome. So if you’ve been diagnosed with this condition and the doctor failed to examine your wrist, the diagnosis can be incorrect. An astute doctor will use the history of the pain combined with very specific tests to determine how your wrist functions. We do these examinations too, but also include an analysis of the neck region, which can cause irritation to a nerve, that then produces hand symptoms.
Once you get the diagnosis correct, there are many options for treatment. Medications, splints, and surgery are tried by many with varying degrees of success. For those who want a more natural, and drug and surgery-free alternative, then chiropractic care is an excellent option to consider.
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment at BeecherChiropractic.com or by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Gadgets and Alternatives
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Houston Area Chiropractor Comments: I’ve noticed many patients use gadgets to treat carpal tunnel syndrome. But is this a good choice or another fad? Sometimes our health advice comes from friends, family, and customers at the local health food store. I am sure you were given a persuasive story before buying. Late night TV infomercials are used too often for medical advice. If your carpal tunnel symptoms show up at night, you may have fallen prey to these sales pitches. There are lots of snake-oil salesmen to take advantage of this often debilitating and frustrating condition which affects millions every year.
Copper bracelets and magnets seem to be particularly in style today. But do these and similar gadgets even work?
There are a couple of studies looking at herbs and magnets. According to the research there is very little evidence that these devices do anything at all. There are no studies on copper-so I guess the jury is still out on that question. However, they don’t pass the smell test in my opinion. These gadgets are probably safe, except for making your skin turn a little green from a copper bracelet.
What about yoga? Surprisingly, one clinical trial of 51 patients over eight weeks showed that doing yoga improved carpal tunnel symptoms better than using a wrist splint.
As far as chiropractic care, there is some evidence that mobilization movements can help ease symptoms. In the short term, chiropractic care is at least as effective at reducing pain when compared to taking powerful pain-killing drugs.
The first step is to make sure you are properly diagnosed. There are too many patients who get incorrect diagnoses or have resigned themselves to taking pills for indefinite periods of time.
One important consideration is whether your hand symptoms are from a neck injury. Injury to nerves in the neck and wrist can lead to what is known as double-crush syndrome. The wrist and the neck, needs to be examined to get a thorough diagnosis. There are also rare causes of carpal tunnel syndrome, such as diabetes, which have to be considered.
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment at BeecherChiropractic.com or by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
