Musicians Trust Chiropractic Treatment For Carpal Tunnel Pain Relief
November 13th, 2011When I became a chiropractor in Glendale, I realized that my technical skills were quite advanced because I’d been playing guitar for more than fifteen years. Needless to say, my hand coordination was well-developed! In addition, I discovered among my musicial friends the hand challenges that many musicians experience, like carpal tunnel syndrome. In fact, I was not only known as a Glendale Chiropractor, but I became known as “the music doctor” because musicians from all over started coming to see me to “fix” their hand problems. The pain relief and increased mobility that my patients experienced, and the carpal tunnel surgeries (often ineffective or worse!) that were avoided resulted in a lot of “thank yous.” In fact at holiday time, I not only got numerous “fruit baskets” from my happy patients, but a surprisingly number of “fruitcakes” from grateful insurance agencies who were compelled to spend far less each year in patient reimbursements for chiropractic adjustments than they did for surgical procedures!
You may be wondering why so many musicians, and guitarists, bassists, and pianists in particular, develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Well, the carpal tunnel is located within the underside of the wrist! This “tunnel” or “passage” is the place through which the Median nerve passes and allows it to give animation to the hands and fingers. Nerve entrapment is often the result of the types of repetitive movements performed by many musicians. to be sure, such nerve entrapment disorder is commonplace. The nerve is impinged between other tissues when inflammation or irritation, due to overuse, causes the tendon to enlarge. Long hours of practice, as well as extended performance, are generally the exascerbating cause. Plus, such activities can cause a misalignment of the carpal bones. Commonly, musicians experience pain, numbness, pins and needles, and tingling in their fingers and hand(s), particularly their thumb and adjacent two fingers. It is not secret that many musicians routinely awaken from sleep with these symptoms. And, these symptoms can go from bad to worse because CTS can cause the hands to feel clumsy or weak, and fatigue quickly with activity. If not treated, in due time, grasping small objects (like a guitar pick or the bow of a bass) with the thumb and fingers can be extremely hard to do. And, although the keen musician who knows about the benefits of chiropractic care would not allow this to happen, CTS left untreated can become the complete disability of the hand.
It is highly recommended that musicians, and anyone else suffering from repetitive stress symptoms to try see a chiropractor who understands the symptoms and the solution, like your Glendale chiropractor. You can learn more about safe and natural chiropractic care. Find out what it can do for you, by calling a chiropractor today!
