One of my current clients was recently looking for a solution for carpal tunnel and she didn’t want to have surgery because she said that her sister just had surgery, here in The Woodlands, a few months ago and she is still having problems. She did try Physical Therapy for a few sessions a couple years ago and it was not successful so she just crossed it off the list as an option.
As of now, in her eyes, the surgery wasn’t successful ethier or maybe carpal tunnel wasn’t the actual CAUSE of her problem. If that is the case, then she spent a lot of her time and money on the wrong problem.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this story and it likely won’t be the last but every time I hear it… it irritates me to no end. There are a lot of causes for numbness and tingling into the hand; most of which start further up in the body, around the shoulder and neck area.
Many times, when there is a problem that can be localized at a certain place then the clinician stops looking at any other areas, even though we now know that nerves can be entrapped at many different places. The symptoms can be felt at one particular place but the problem could be much further “up the chain.”
Alice, this current client, has been having numbness throughout her right hand and pain in her neck on both sides. She has dealt with bad posture for a long time, which is related to computer work on a daily basis. We have seen each other 5 times now for treatment and she has improved to where every finger excluding the index feels completely normal.
She has been dealing with this issue for a long time and we are making real progress… The second part of her problem has improved to an even greater extent. She is no longer having neck and shoulder pain!!
If you are wondering if those symptoms were related, then YES, it seems like they went hand in hand and there is a reason why this problem came on so slowly but never left.
We will have this problem fixed shortly but her comment was how sad she was that her sister wasted so much and didn’t get any of the relief she was looking for.. A big problem with this is that she won’t even want to find out about a more comprehensive solution BC (it shouldn’t be but) it’s embarrassing to most people that they made a bad decision and jumped into surgery.
The truth is that choosing to have surgery too early is very common and it is nothing to be ashamed of and it definitively should not be a reason to stop trying. There are people out there that make it their life’s work to find solutions for others who want to get back to being active and mobile.
Don’t lose hope, find information. Get solutions!
If you would like to know more, we post fantastic information on how to start helping yourself and WHY symptoms start in the first place.
Share this with anyone you think might benefit from it, I live in The Woodlands but this information can travel across the world!
Good luck on your journey!
Committed to your Health and Recovery,
Jonathan
Dr. Jonathan Ruzicka is a Manual Therapist whose experience as a private therapist for professional athletes drove him to further his education attaining unparalleled skills in tissue mobility work, performance based rehab, injury prevention, myofacial release and joint mobilization to optimize human performance.
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