CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME
Ross Hauser, M.D.

A recent report out of Sweden says that in a study of the general population of that country, 14% of Swedes suffer from chronic wrist pain, and 2% can be diagnosed as having Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Now if those same results hold true in the U.S., then it can be estimated that 5 million people have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and that some 37 million people suffer from chronic wrist pain. Not so fast says the University of Michigan School of Public Health who questioned the study's results. Researchers there say that the Swedish study was using electrical conductivity tests that may have skewed the tests to show higher positive pain results.

Additionally the Swedish study said women were four times more likely to have the problem than men, and overweight people were more than twice as likely to have chronic wrist pain.

So who do you believe? Well if you have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome you believe yourself because you are the one in pain!
 

We all know where Carpal Tunnel Syndrome comes from: Pressure, damage, or repeated injury to the median nerve at the wrist. We all also know that wrist surgery has limited and widely varying degrees of success in treating it. Women are more likely to have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome because it has been linked to pregnancy, PMS, and menopause. Where typing at a keyboard is also a major factor, this one time realm of women office workers is now nearly equally shared by men as the number of computer related jobs increase among the male population.
 

Other factors for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome include Rheumatoid Arthritis, renal failure, diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.
 

Unfortunately, many patients with elbow and hand pain have been misdiagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. A typical Carpal Tunnel Syndrome patient will experience pain and numbness in the hand. Because most physicians do not know the referral pain patterns of ligaments, they do not realize that cervical vertebrae 4 and 5 and the annular ligament can refer pain to the thumb, index, and middle fingers. Ligament laxity can also cause numbness. Cervical and annular ligament laxity should always be evaluated prior to making a diagnosis of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Surgery for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome should not be done until an evaluation is performed by a physician who understands the referral problems of ligaments and is experienced in Prolotherapy.

Seldom do patients find relief from "Carpal Tunnel" complaints of pain in the hand and elbow with physical therapy and surgery because the diagnosis is wrong. The most common reason for pain in the elbow referring pain to the hand is weakness in the annular ligament, not from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Several sessions of Prolotherapy will easily strengthen the annular ligament and relieve chronic elbow pain.