Acupuncture has come to be seen by some as an excellent treatment option for carpal tunnel syndrome. With acupuncture treatment, extremely thin needles get "spun" into (inserted in) particular points on the body. It is believed that by doing this, energy blockages in the body's energy pathways, which are called meridians, can be removed, and healing can then take place. Some scientists interpret how acupuncture works as being able to release natural pain-killer chemicals into the body while enhancing blood flow and balancing out the nervous system. For those with carpal tunnel syndrome, the needles are spun into points along the hand, thumb, wrist, and arm. But the upper back, neck, and even legs might also receive needles to treat CTS.
The number of acupuncture sessions that you need will vary based on how severe your pain is, how rough you are on your hands and how healthy you are in general; this is something to speak to your practitioner about.
There is an alternative to these needles (which don't hurt when they are inserted; they simply give a split-second "tingling shock" sensation") called laser acupuncture. Here, a handheld laser replaces the needles.
One study into the effectiveness of acupuncture on CTS included 36 people who had a median pain duration of 24 months. Fourteen of these people had had one or two surgical release procedures but got no results. Three laser acupuncture sessions were given to them every week for four or five weeks. At the end of this study period, 33 people had had their CTS pain removed or at least cut in half or diminished even more, including all of those who had been failed by surgery. Follow up research over the next one to two years discovered that CTS pain came back in only two out of 23 contacted people, and both of them were successfully re-treated.
In 1997, the National Institutes of Health declared that acupuncture was a useful and viable supplemental treatment to the standard procedures of treating CTS and was a good candidate for inclusion into a regimen of CTS treatment. However, there is not enough evidence to tell us that it can cure CTS. 36 people with good results, while impressive, is not a good sample size and it is important to remember that laser acupuncture wasn't the only thing that was used there. Traditional Chinese herbal remedies were also used as were traditional acupuncture, other nutritional supplements and even the ancient heat therapy moxibustion.
But there might be a simpler and much less expensive treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome that doesn't require any acupuncture, as good as it is. There are physical exercises that can be done which are designed to relieve CTS symptoms. These won't necessarily require you to make any changes to your diet, and you won't have to see a doctor to do them.
More Information:
Don't let yourself sit by helplessly as your carpal tunnel syndrome gets worse and worse. Did you know that simply changing several of your daily habits can help alleviate some of the pain caused by CTS? Or that there are easy to learn simple massage that can take away the numbness in your hands? Follow this link to learn carpal tunnel exercises that can help you learn healthy habits for life.
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Article: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment For Everyone Author: Tom Nicholson Publication Date: 2009-10-15 Total Views: 191 Word Count: 546 Category:Home /
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