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How Do I Know if I Have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

6 Feb

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) can be an extremely painful and activity-limiting condition. It affects many people of all ages and genders, though women are affected more often than men. But how do you know if what you are suffering from is truly CTS or if it’s another condition that’s producing the symptoms in your hand or wrist?

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve is compressed as it passes through the wrist. However, the median nerve travels out of the neck, through the shoulder, elbow, and forearm before it passes through the wrist and into the hand. Pinching of the median nerve ANYWHERE along its course can give rise to the signs and symptoms of CTS including numbness, tingling, and/or pain into the hand and index, third, and thumb-side half of the fourth digits, and sometimes the thumb. If the pinch is significant enough, weakness can also occur. Sometimes the median nerve can become compressed at both the wrist and other body sites as it travels from the spinal cord to your hand, that’s why it’s important for a doctor to check for impingements along the entire course of the nerve.

But compression of the median nerve isn’t the only thing that can produce symptoms in the hand. Here are a couple of the more common conditions that are often confused with CTS:

  • Ulnar neuropathy: This is pinching of the ulnar nerve (at the neck, shoulder, elbow, or wrist) but this gives rise to a similar numbness/tingling BUT into the pinky-side of the fourth and the fifth fingers (not the thumb-side of the hand). The most common pinch location is either at the neck or the inner elbow, the latter of which is called “cubital tunnel syndrome” or CuTS.
  • Tendonitis: There are a total of nine tendons that pass through the carpal tunnel that help us grip or make a fist. Similarly, there are five main tendons on the back side of the hand that allow us to open our hands and spread our fingers. ANY of these tendons can get strained or torn, which results in swelling and pain as well as limited function BUT there is usually NO NUMBNESS/TINGLING!
  • DeQuervain’s disease: This is really a tendonitis of an extensor tendon of the thumb and its synovial sheath that lubricates it resulting in a “tenosynovitis.” This creates pain with thumb movements, especially if you grasp your thumb in the palm of your hand and then bend your wrist sideways towards the pinky-side of the hand.

Chiropractors are well-trained to diagnose and treat patients with CTS. And if you don’t have CTS but another condition listed above, they can offer treatment (or a referral, if necessary) to help resolve it so you can return to your normal activities as soon as possible.

FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 717-697-1888

Dr. Brent Binder
4909 Louise Drive, Suite 102
Mechanicsburg Pa, 17055

Member of Chiro-Trust.org

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Can Damaged Nerves Regenerate?

2 Feb

Previously, we discussed how herniated disks can resorb all by themselves, especially large herniated disks. But what about a damaged nerve—can it self-repair too?

First, it’s important to realize that damage can occur when enough pressure is applied to any living tissue. The anatomy of our nerves includes many micro-structures such as the blood vessels that bring needed oxygen to the several layers of the nerve. If the nerve is deprived of oxygen long enough, there can be damage to its infrastructure, similar to a heart attack damaging the heart muscle.

A pinched nerve results in symptoms that include numbness, tingling, weakness, and in some cases, burning sensations. There are three stages of nerve damage that can be simplified into mild, moderate, and severe, and the ability for nerves to regenerate depends largely on the amount of damage and the length of time that has passed before treatment is sought out.

Generally speaking, it has been well reported that the nerves that make up the peripheral nervous system (the nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord) have the ability to regenerate, while those within the central nervous system (CNS) generally do not. However, there is hope. Researchers have begun to identify the molecular mechanisms that can promote axon regeneration in CNS injuries. Much of the knowledge and insight derived from these studies comes from the experimental use of fruit flies, as is referred to as “Drosophila models of axonal regrowth.”

The activation of an important receptor (called “insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor or IGF-1R) appears to be an essential step for axonal regeneration to occur in adult CNS neurons. Studies utilizing Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) as a form of treatment in animal models after a brain injury found IGF-1 to be “neuroprotective” in the early stages of brain injury, and blood levels are often elevated soon after an injury.

In a study of 45 patients who suffered traumatic spinal cord injuries, researchers detected higher levels of IGF-1 blood serum levels in those who had clinically documented neurological resolution as compared to lower levels that were found in those who did not have neurological remission.

Unfortunately, researchers need to identify some of the missing pieces of the CNS-injury recovery puzzle before a consistent and predictable outcome can be expected for people who have sustained a serious spinal cord injury.

Doctors of chiropractic are trained to identify injuries to peripheral nerves as well as to the spinal cord and they can also work closely with other experts who manage the more significant neurological injuries, all in the quest of getting you back on the road to as much recovery as possible!

FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 717-697-1888

Dr. Brent Binder
4909 Louise Drive, Suite 102
Mechanicsburg Pa, 17055

Member of Chiro-Trust.org

How Important is Sleep?

30 Jan

Do you frequently feel sleepy throughout the day? Do you doze off soon after you sit down? Do you feel “restored” when you wake up in the morning? How much sleep is REALLY needed and how important is it? Let’s take a look…

The short answer is that sleep is REALLY important! Prior to the 1950s, most authorities thought sleep was just a passive, dormant part of life. However, we’ve come to appreciate that our brains are quite active during sleep, and sleep quality affects our daily functioning and our physical and mental health in ways we’re JUST beginning to understand!

There are five phases of sleep: stage 1-4 and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These stages occur in that order creating distinctly different brain wave patterns. We spend about 50% of our sleep in stage two sleep, about 20% in REM sleep, and about 30% in the other stages (this varies with age).

We sleep much lighter in the early stages (one and two) of sleep—meaning it’s easy to be woken up by noises or other disturbances. Sleep is much deeper during stages three and four (called delta wave sleep) and if something manages to disturb these stages of sleep, you’ll find yourself groggy and disoriented for the first couple minutes upon waking. REM sleep includes rapid, irregular breathing, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and this is often when bizarre, illogical dreams occur.

Infants need require about sixteen hours of sleep, teenagers need nine hours, and adults should sleep seven to eight hours a night (more during pregnancy). Too little sleep leads to “sleep debt,” which must eventually be re-paid. Though we can function on little sleep for a while, our judgment, reaction time, and other functions are impaired. If you feel drowsy during the day, experts say you haven’t had enough sleep, which unfortunately has become the norm in our society!

There are MANY studies that make it clear that sleep deprivation is DANGEROUS! Sleep deprived drivers may be as unsafe on the road as drunk drivers. In fact, experts estimate driver fatigue plays a role in about 100,000 car wrecks and 1,500 deaths each year in the Unites States alone—which is probably a conservative estimate!

While we are still trying to figure out WHY sleep is so important, animal studies show that rats will die within three weeks when they are deprived of sleep and within five weeks if they’re only deprived of REM sleep.

Bottom line: getting enough quality sleep each night is important for maintaining your mental and physical health.

FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 717-697-1888

Dr. Brent Binder
4909 Louise Drive, Suite 102
Mechanicsburg Pa, 17055

Member of Chiro-Trust.org

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

What Are Whiplash-Associated Headaches?

23 Jan

Whiplash and headaches are a very common duo that frequently occur after motor vehicle collisions. The good news is that most headaches that arise immediately following a head injury (or shortly thereafter) usually improve after minutes or days. But unfortunately for some, these headaches may persist over the longer term and even become a permanent part of life.

Researchers use the terms “post-traumatic” and “post-concussive” headache to describe long-term, intractable headaches associated with trauma. Given the back-and-forth, to-and-fro (and every combination in between) mechanism of injury in car crashes, it’s easy to understand why headaches develop. What isn’t so easy to appreciate is why most clear out while others don’t and become chronic.

Mild brain injuries are essentially a concussion (also referred to as mild traumatic brain injury or mTBI). This is usually a brief disturbance of brain function causing loss of consciousness or transient difficulty in thought processes. Mental fog, difficulty completing simple tasks, and losing one’s place in the middle of a thought or sentence are common mTBI symptoms.

Because standard neurological exam and imaging techniques (CT, MRI, X-Ray, and EEG) usually come back negative, many physicians have resorted to calling these symptoms “psychological.” However, newer technologies such as diffuse tensor imaging or functional MRI can detect  the microscopic injuries to the nerve fibers in the brain that may cause the previously described symptoms.

A unique difference between the classic chronic tension-type headache vs. those associated with post-concussive syndrome are the additional neurological symptoms: dizziness, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, psychological symptoms including depression, anxiety, personality change, sleep disturbance, and impaired libido.

Additionally, patients may also experience difficulty concentrating, poor work efficiency, and difficulty maintaining attention or retaining information—it’s no wonder why disability rates are so high in this patient population. It’s a LOT to deal with!

Treatment of this type of headache and constellation of symptoms has traditionally centered on treating each symptom individually, as there is no “magic pill” that gets to the underlying brain disturbance. However, there is hope that patients can benefit from a multi-disciplinary method of combining several techniques such as transcranial pulsed electromagnetic field, biofeedback, brain stimulating games or exercises, chiropractic management of the cervical spine, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the use of fish oil, vitamin D3 with a gluten-free diet, etc.

Doctors of chiropractic are trained to identify these types of headaches and frequently team up with allied healthcare providers to form a “team” to BEST serve the patient’s needs. Though it is fortunate most headaches associated with car accidents gradually taper off by the three- to six-month point, it’s important to NOT lose hope for the less fortunate who continue to struggle with post-concussion syndrome headaches

FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 717-697-1888

Dr. Brent Binder
4909 Louise Drive, Suite 102
Mechanicsburg Pa, 17055

Member of Chiro-Trust.org

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

 

Neck Pain and Sinusitis – What’s the Connection?

16 Jan

The connection between our sinuses and headaches is well established, but what about the relationship between neck pain and our sinuses? Is there a connection?

Sinusitis is very common in the spring when pollen counts are high and times when the cold and flu are rampant. It usually manifests with a clear runny nose and pain over the affected sinuses and other “histamine” related symptoms (watery eyes, sneezing, etc.).

The Mayo Clinic states at least two of four primary symptoms of chronic sinusitis (CS) need to be present to confirm a CS diagnosis: 1) thick, discolored nasal discharge or drainage down the back of the throat (post-nasal drip); 2) nasal obstruction due to congestion that interferes with nasal breathing; 3) pain, tenderness, and swelling in the eyes, face, nose, forehead; 4) a reduced sense of taste and smell in adults and a cough in children.

Other CS symptoms can include: 1) ear pain; 2) jaw or teeth pain; 3) cough—often worse at night; 4) sore throat; 5) bad breath (halitosis); 6) fatigue; 7) irritability; 8) nausea; and 9) neck pain. Acute sinusitis has similar signs and symptoms when compared with CS, but they are short-lived. Symptoms that warrant a primary care consideration include: 1) high fever; 2) severe headache; 3) mental confusion; 4) visual changes—double vision, blurriness, etc.; and 5) profound neck pain and stiffness.

Causation of CS include: 1) Nasal polyps; 2) deviated septum; or 3) other medical conditions (cystic fibrosis complications, gastroesophageal reflux or HIV and other autoimmune system-related diseases) that can block the nasal passage.

Risk factors for CS include: 1) nasal passage conditions (polyps, deviated septum); 2) asthma; 3) aspirin sensitivity (due to respiratory problems); 4) immune system disorder (HIV/AIDS or cystic fibrosis); 5) hay fever/allergies; 6) pollutant exposure (air pollution, cigarette smoke).

Complications of CS: 1) meningitis; 2) infection migration such as to the bones (osteomyelitis) or to the skin (cellulitis); 3) sense of smell loss (partial or complete “anosmia”); 4) vision problems (including blindness).

Many are not aware that neck pain and stiffness and jaw or teeth pain are symptoms of CS. Conditions like this are a reminder that it’s important for both the doctor and patient to be aware of ALL the symptoms present, even if they seem like they aren’t connected. While doctors of chiropractic are trained to look for non-mechanical causes for neck pain when a patient seeks care, it makes it easier if the patient is forthcoming with all their symptoms, even the ones that don’t seem relevant.

The good news is that doctors of chiropractic are trained to manage CS and can offer patients advice on lifestyle changes that may reduce the risk of the infection recurring. Furthermore, chiropractors often work with allied healthcare professionals when antibiotics or other measures are needed.

FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 717-697-1888

Dr. Brent Binder
4909 Louise Drive, Suite 102
Mechanicsburg Pa, 17055

Member of Chiro-Trust.org

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

What Happens When a Knee Injury Occurs?

12 Jan

Have you ever wondered what actually happens when a player on your favorite sports team has a knee injury? Why is this so common, and why is the knee more vulnerable than the ankle or hip?

One reason is simple anatomy. Unlike the hip, the knee doesn’t have a deep socket, meaning there is less stability and they don’t have the added side protection the ankles enjoy. The knee is more like a hinge with little protection when impacts occur from any direction.

In a classic football tackle from the side (or in a “clip”), the runner’s foot is planted with the lower leg rotated inward as the player is cutting a corner when WHAM, a hit occurs. When the tissues in the knee are stretched beyond their limits, they can tear. The order in which the tearing occurs and the amount or degree of the tear is dependent on the exact mechanism of injury or the direction and force of the impact.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the innermost structure while the MCL and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) is found on the outside of the joint. If the hit is from the front, the ACL may bear the brunt of the blow while a hit from another direction may first affect the medial collateral ligament (MCL). The meniscus is a C-wedge shaped piece of cartilage that absorbs shock between the joints of the femur and tibia with one on the inside (medial) and outside (lateral meniscus). The meniscus is among the most common of knee injuries, often associated with a twist or torsional stress. This is commonly referred to as a “torn cartilage.”

In one study of 100 consecutive patients with recent ACL tears, there were also 53 MCL, 12 medial, 35 lateral, and 11 bilateral meniscus injuries. The cause included 59/100 injuries due to contact sports, 30/100 in downhill skiing, and 11/100 in other recreational activities, traffic accidents, or at work. It is estimated that there are 100,000 anterior cruciate surgeries in the United States each year!

Doctors of Chiropractic are trained to identify, treat, and rehab knee injuries both pre- and post-surgically. They frequently work with other allied healthcare professionals to optimize outcomes as quickly as possible.

FOR A FREE NO-OBLIGATION CONSULTATION CALL 717-697-1888

Dr. Brent Binder
4909 Louise Drive, Suite 102
Mechanicsburg Pa, 17055

Member of Chiro-Trust.org

This information should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all healthcare concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a healthcare professional who is familiar with your updated medical history

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