News At-A-Glance
Brighton, Colorado
Health News: Are you Suffering Hand or Wrist Pain?
Article By Dr. Jim Campbell
-Learn What Many Doctors Don’t Know About Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
This month has, of course, Valentine’s Day in it and we want to show that our “heart is in the right place” so read on for a connection that I promise I’ll make by the end of this article. Pain makes it very difficult to enjoy some of the most mundane and taken for granted aspects and activities of daily living. If you are in pain, especially hand and wrist pain, you may be experiencing difficulty writing or washing dishes, running the vacuum cleaner or even handling utensils. A nice dinner out at a great place to dine, might be spoiled by the pain of twisting your wrist to use the attractive place setting there on the table. I know very well how this pain affects your life because my wife suffered from Carpal Tunnel when we met.
For her as for so many, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome came on slowly. It might not be noticeable at first. There might be an annoying numbness and tingling in your wrist or hand which makes it harder to type or to hold the phone. Over time the discomfort gradually builds up into an achy, painful feeling. This pain can be frustrating because simple chores like cleaning or yard work or anything else that puts pressure on your wrist become so difficult to do. Taking over the counter pills doesn’t alleviate the pain and a visit to the family doctor usually results in prescription pain relievers, anti-inflammatory drugs and wrist splints.
Wrist pain, numbness and weakness in the hand is a tricky condition. Your hand and wrist pain can have a number of causes and some of those causes may not even in your wrist! Many doctors assume that since your pain is in your wrist, the problem is solely in your wrist and focus only on that area. The main problem with this kind of treatment is that the underlying root of the problem sometimes is overlooked and not addressed. Pain relievers only disable a chemical in your body that tells your brain you are in pain –cortisone shots work almost in the same way. It’s like wearing earplugs to avoid a sound. And wearing wrist splints when they are not needed can lead to tight muscles and ligaments and loss of wrist motion and in rare cases can even make your condition worse.
If you’ve done the pills and splints, then what’s next? Quite often, it’s some sort of physical therapy. Physical therapy can be great but this type of care may not be as comprehensive as you need, and for some, physical therapy doesn’t work and the next suggestion is surgery. Surgery is a pretty extreme step…especially if your problem is not just in your wrist. In some circumstances surgery is the only option, but there may be a more comprehensive and a more conservative solution.This was the case with my wife when we first met. Twenty years ago she was dealing with debilitating wrist pain and suffering because she could not do the simplest of tasks like cleaning around the house. Writing for her was also painful and this was affecting her job performance. She wore wrist splints and took the recommended...Read More