A few weeks ago, a new patient came into our office after being diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome by his neurologist.
He had been dealing with numbness in his index and middle fingers for over 3 months and, like many people, he started with a visit to his primary care doctor. From there, he was referred to a neurologist for further testing, which led to the carpal tunnel diagnosis.
But here’s where it got interesting.
When he came to our office, he admitted he was skeptical that chiropractic care could help — and understandably so, given he already had a diagnosis and had been referred to physical therapy. But during our exam, something didn’t quite add up.
The classic symptoms of carpal tunnel usually include numbness in the thumb, index, and middle fingers. Yet for him, it was only the index and middle finger — nothing in the thumb. He was growing increasingly concerned that the numbness might become permanent, especially as he was starting to have trouble feeling objects in his hand.
We ran a series of orthopedic tests specific to carpal tunnel, and surprisingly, they were all negative.
After taking a deeper look and reviewing the anatomy of the hand and wrist, we discovered that the issue wasn’t at the carpal tunnel at all — it was further down in the hand. Specifically, we found adhesions around the Recurrent Branch of the Median Nerve, a less common but very real cause of similar symptoms.
Over the course of 4 weeks, we treated him with:
- Shockwave therapy targeting the affected nerve
- Chiropractic adjustments to optimize nerve and joint function
After just 5 visits, he messaged me over the weekend to say the numbness was completely gone.
It was a great reminder that not all nerve symptoms in the hand are carpal tunnel, and that a thorough, hands-on evaluation can uncover things that may be missed otherwise.
If you or someone you know has been dealing with hand or wrist numbness and wants another opinion, we’re here to help.
To your health,
Dr. Del
