Carpal tunnel Syndrome and treatments

I have been helping New York city office workers for almost 10 years now at our Manhattan Chiropractic Center. Because of this, we have witnessed first hand what sitting in front of a computer for 8-12 hours per day can do to the body over time. Hint: It's Not Good

One of the more common problems we treat is arm and hand pain. Sometimes there is weakness of grip, numbness or tingling in the hands, and even night pain. These are the classic signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). They are also some of the signs and symptoms of a cervical disc herniation.

Yes...herniated discs in the neck can cause the same symptoms as carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrist. How is this possible?

Well...the nerves that exit from the bones in the neck, travel down the arms and into the hands. One of these nerves...the median nerve...branches off and enters into the carpal tunnel, an opening in the wrist which contains some tendons and the median nerve. Compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel is what causes CTS.

Nerves are very sensitive to pressure. Any kind of pressure on a nerve will interfere with the transmission of the nerve impulse from the brain to the target cells. Since the target cells of the nerves that exit the cervical spine include the hand...pressure on the nerves in the neck...can cause symptoms in the hand.
The Medical treatment involves Physical therapy and medication and sometimes surgery.
My approach consists of specific Chiropractic adjustments, Cold laser therapy and physical therapy. Cervical Spinal decompression using the DRX 9000C can correct disc herniations in the cervical spine.
Cold laser therapy has FDA approval to treat Carpal tunnel syndrome.
If you have wrist pain, neck pain and want a Non surgical approach contact Dr. Shoshany in Manhattan (212) 645-8151 or visit www.drshoshany.com

Emergency Spinal decompression treatment

I recently added a website to my collection of websites
The site is http://emergencychiropractor.com/ I will be adding doctors of Chiropractic that offer emergency Chiropractic care across the country.
I offer emergency chiropractic care in my Manhattan Chiropractic practice.
Call (917) 922-2426 for a visit.

Make Back Pain Disappear Without Drugs or Scalpel

Dr. Shoshany New York City's top Chiropractor contributed to this article that over 70,000 people subscribe to monthly
Make Back Pain Disappear Without Drugs or Scalpel
Spinal Decompression Is a Magical Cure for Some People

reprinted from Daily Health News, November 1, 2007
URL: http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/blpnet/article.html?article_id=43340


Luckily I've never suffered a serious bout of back pain -- and staying strong in the hope I won't have problems like that is one reason I am so committed to fitness. Even so, though, the truth is that most of us (80% by some estimates) will have back pain at some time or another -- whether from over-exertion, injury or simply a result of the aging process. Chronic back pain is frustrating, not only because of how badly it hurts but also because it can be difficult to cure. It is the fifth most common reason for doctor visits.

A particularly common cause of such pain is a herniated disk, also referred to colloquially as a "slipped disk." For a long time, the usual mainstream medical solutions were surgery, physical therapy and/or pain medication, all of which take a long time and may not work for everyone. So I was very interested to learn about a non-surgical, non-invasive treatment for herniated disks called spinal decompression.

Visualize the disks in your back as being like hard donuts filled with a jelly-like material in the center. With age, the strong fibrous cartilage (the donut) can weaken, allowing the jelly-like material (nucleus pulposus) to bulge, which in and of itself is not painful. But more seriously, with a herniated disk the hard tissue has actually torn or ruptured, causing this material to ooze and press on spinal nerves. This causes pain that can range from mild to horrible.

SPINAL DECOMPRESSION 101: A PRIMER

One of the first devices used for spinal decompression was approved by the FDA in 1995. Because spinal decompression requires special expertise and pricey equipment, few chiropractors have offered this treatment -- but numbers are growing as training and better insurance reimbursement becomes more commonplace, I was told by Steven Shoshany, DC, a New York City-based chiropractor who specializes in spinal decompression.

Here's how it works: The patient lies on a comfortable table made specifically for this purpose, comfortably strapped down with a pelvis and torso harness that resembles a girdle. Calling it a "high-tech traction device," Dr. Shoshany explained how it works. "Slowly and comfortably, almost imperceptibly, the machine creates traction by pulling and holding for one minute. Then, intermittently, it releases. It is believed that this creates a negative pressure, or a vacuum within the disk, which then draws back the herniated-disk material which was displaced." With less pressure inside the disk, and thus less on the spinal nerves, pain often decreases or might even disappear -- sometimes instantaneously. To "fix the hold," however, numerous sessions may be required.

This technique also allows nutrient-rich fluid to go to the area where there is less pressure, stimulating the healing process. Most patients either sleep or watch a DVD during the treatment, Dr. Shoshany told me. Each session takes about 30 minutes and a typical treatment program may take between 20 to 30 sessions.

Critics contend that there are no long-range, well-designed studies looking at efficacy over time, but there has been some research on the treatment and the results are promising. In one study published in 2001 in Neurological Research, researchers reported that a spinal decompression therapy called VAX-D produced a success rate of 68.4%, compared with 0% for a placebo therapy in treatment of chronic low back pain. Another study from a team of researchers at the University of Illinois and Rome found a 71% success rate for treatment of herniated disk and other causes of low back pain, with "success" defined as a reduction in pain to 0 or 1 on a scale of 0 to 5.

NOT FOR EVERYONE

Dr. Shoshany noted that some people get much more benefit from spinal decompression than others, and it is not an option for everyone. "It's not a good choice for a person who has metal implants in the spine," he warned. It's better for people with a single-disk herniation than those who have herniation in several or all of them. Also, people who are morbidly obese and/or who smoke likely won't find much relief from spinal decompression either.

The procedure is thought to be safe, though there is no hard science supporting its efficacy. If you do decide to seek out this somewhat unconventional form of treatment, it's safest and best to do so with the oversight of your orthopedic surgeon, who can help you ascertain whether it might work in your case. For more information on spinal decompression, go to http://www.drshoshany.com
Effectiveness and safety of Non Surgical Spinal Decompression reveals a 89% reduction on severity of chronic LBP once this article is converted to a text form i will post it.