Carpal Tunnel? Get a Hand Makeover! This article is a before and after story. These days, we see makeovers of all types. Flip that House, for example. Talk shows like Oprah love to take ugly ducklings and turn them into beautiful swans. We love to cheer this sort of stuff. I guess it makes us feel good that someone is helping someone else realize their dreams of looking great, of having a new house that reflects their inner self, etc. This story is not about looks or dressing properly or “flipping” a house. It’s a story of someone who had pain and numbness in her hands and how she was able to get rid of her problem. She got “new hands” and a new lease on what she could do with those hands. I guess you could call it a happy ending. Judy was a patient here at TriState Hand & Occupational Therapy. She had severe pain and numbness in both hands. She was dropping things. It first began at night with tingling that would come and go. Unfortunately, as time went by, it got worse. It soon came every night, and then occasionally during the day as well when she used her hands to cook or clean. After a while, they tingled all the time and started to get more and more numb with less sensation. Not good at all! Judy did not want surgery, and she made that clear up front. Instead, she hoped we could figure out what was wrong and help her. I told Judy that I was glad she had come to us first, and that yes, I believed we could help her. We got a full medical history and I listened to her one-on-one for a fair amount of time, looking for patterns that would indicate what could be the source. One thing that stood out was that she said it was numb and tingly only from the wrist down into the fingers, on the palm side only. That indicated it was probably coming from her wrist area. When I tapped on her wrist, she felt electrical shocks shooting into her fingers. It seemed that signs were pointing to carpal tunnel. We did sensory nerve testing, which showed her thumb, index, and middle fingers had a significant loss of sensation, while the little fingers were normal. This is a typical loss of sensation pattern for carpal tunnel. We then proceeded to treat it using the Dynasplint Carpal Tunnel System. We got pretty amazing results fairly early into the treatment; she experienced some relief right after her first visit! She reported sleeping better at first, then she reported less pain and numbness as well. She was smiling more too, and swhen you see the change, it really is a special feeling. Sensory testing showed that she had a significant improvement in sensation after treatment. Best of all, the patient was happy. Judy could sleep through the night and do her chores without pain and numbness in her hands. If you would like a “hand makeover” and want to avoid surgery, give us a call. This device is painless, and stretches open the carpal tunnel to give relief right away. If you are pregnant, working, or wish to avoid surgery for some other reason, this is the best thing we have seen in 20 years of doing therapy! After trying it in therapy, if necessary, the device is also available on a rental basis, and is covered by most insurances, including Medicare and Blue Cross Blue Shield. So stop suffering and give us a call today at (301) 759-4263. Call and schedule an appointment or ask your doctor for a referral. We can answer any questions you have about insurance coverage. Call us today, or check us at online at www.tristatehand.com and click on the carpal tunnel picture on the homepage for more information. Tips to Help Yourself With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome • If you work at a job that requires repetitive motion and your hands hurt or tingle, don’t wait! Get help before it gets worse. • If you have had symptoms for 4-6 weeks or more, ask your doctor for a referral to try the Dynasplint Carpal Tunnel System. • Don’t take medications to just cover the symptoms—deal with the problem. Technology has finally arrived that can get rid of carpal tunnel syndrome without surgery—call now! • If you have diabetes, get your sugar under control; it will help prevent fluid buildup that cause pressure in the carpal tunnel. |
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