Treatments For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Now that you have had a diagnosis to confirm that you have definitely got carpal tunnel syndrome, it is time to choose the correct treatment that is best suited to you. There are a few options, and among them is surgery, but it is wise to look at all the options, and maybe consider surgery as a last resort, but whatever decision you come to, you should move forward as soon as you can.
Treatment Options for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
If you have, other ailments like arthritis, or diabetes, then they need to be brought under control first. The first thing that you will probably be told to do by your physician, is that you need to rest your wrist for at least two weeks. You will be given a splint that will secure your fingers and support your wrist. During this time you will not be able to do anything that may irritate the already damaged Median nerve, and you will be encouraged to avoid any type of twisting or bending of your affected wrist, or wrists. If you have any swelling or pain, you can use cool packs to help sooth it.
During this period, you can use the time to decide on the best course of action to take with your choice of treatment. One of the best non surgery treatments is Yoga. Yoga exercises help reduce the sometimes excruciating and constant pain of carpal tunnel syndrome. This was recorded in a study done and published in the Journal Of The American Medical Association. Their 1998 study showed that anyone who took part in yoga exercise over the period of eight weeks, showed good improvement in their condition, where those that didn’t do the yoga, showed no change in theirs. The opening and stretching of some yoga exercise that are especially for strengthening the upper body can really help.
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Talk to your doctor and then consult your gym about a good local yoga instructor, then make an appointment with them and explain your requirements and inform them of your condition. The next non surgery option is to get your doctor to send you to a good physical therapist. These health providers are trained to evaluate physical impairments, and give you some deep tissue massage which can help with your carpal tunnel syndrome.
Acupuncture is also said to have had good results in the relief of pain and swelling in the carpal tunnel, to the point where it can eliminate the need for surgery altogether. Using correct acupuncture, you will not have the need for any anti inflammatory drugs, or corticosteroids.
Types of surgery for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
It is a fact that one of the most common uses for acupuncture is to relieve repetitive stress complaints, so it would be an excellent alternative for you. The very latest studies suggest that acupuncture may be the most effective treatment available to any person suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. The last choice should be surgery, but there are options there too. The most common surgeries are simple.
Carpal tunnel release. This operation is advised if the symptoms have been evident for six months or more. This method involves cutting the band of tissue around the wrist to release pressure on the median nerve. This procedure is done under local anesthesia, and does not require that you stay overnight in a hospital.
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Open release surgery is another form of surgical treatment, and is the most traditional
of all surgeries. This involves the making of an incision about, or up to two inches in the wrist, the cutting the carpal ligament to create a larger space in the carpal tunnel. This is another procedure that can be done using a local anesthesia.
Endoscopic surgery is where the surgeon makes two incisions of about a half inch each in the wrist and palm. Using a camera inside the tunnel, the surgeon cuts the carpal ligament that holds the joints together, and thus clearing the tunnel and releasing the median nerve.
This surgery allows faster recovery time, with less post operative pain and discomfort. Although it is possible to do Endoscopic surgery under local anesthesia, it is generally done with a general anesthesia.
It is important for you to be aware, that although you feel the relief from the symptoms that you have been experiencing, remember that recovery from carpel tunnel can take quite a few months. Follow up with physical therapy is important, to strengthen up the wrist, and get the muscles back in shape, and there are certain sets of exercises that will do that, and can be carried out through the normal course of the day. There are some people that may have to change the type of work they were doing when there wrist became painful, and so for them, finding a job that doesn’t put unwarranted strain on the their wrist again. Recurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome is extremely rare after corrective surgery, and most people that have had the surgery, and completed the post operative care and instructions fully, should never find themselves suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome ever again.
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