Is it really Carpal Tunnel?
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can be miserable, and it plagues the music industry.
At this point, who hasn’t heard of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? The numbness and tingling in your fingers, especially after typing for a long time, or playing your instrument for hours on end. And then pain, oh, that nerve pain.
But is it really Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? The Carpal Tunnel itself is a small channel at the base of your wrist. The general thought is your median nerve gets irritated in this channel, and the way to relieve your Carpal Tunnel is to have surgery to reduce the tissue restrictions on the median nerve. However, Carpal Tunnel Surgery has a failure rate of around 50%!!!
So what else may be going on?
The nerve that can cause Carpal Tunnel-like symptoms can cause those symptoms from 5 places in-between the neck where the nerve originates and the hand where the nerve’s sensations are felt.
Paravertebral Area - This is the spine on the back of your neck. If you’re sleeping wrong consistently, your “Carpal Tunnel” is actually a problem at the base of your neck.
The front area of the neck - The nerve runs through a ton of muscles on the anterior or front side of your neck. Meaning if you tend to have a tight neck from posture or work biomechanics, surgery on your wrist won’t fix anything, because it’s all in your neck.
The front area of the shoulder - This area, called the brachial plexus, ruins a lot of people’s day, but the effects aren’t felt in the shoulder - they’re felt in the hand. Shoulders, especially in musicians, are known for being out of place and in positions that put a lot of pressure on nerves, because many instruments pull the shoulder forward out of a proper socket position.
The top area of the forearm, just below the elbow - If you flex your wrist a lot, the flexor muscles in your forearm are working overtime and bulking! Just like any muscle does when it’s habitually used. However, how many musicians do you know are getting frequent forearm massages, or doing any forearm self-care work? Eventually that muscle begins to restrict and puts tension on the nerve. Again, your Carpal Tunnel isn’t Carpal Tunnel, it’s in your forearm.
The palm are of the wrist - Say what? Your problem could be BELOW the Carpal Tunnel? Yep. Sometimes nerves are injured downstream, so when they send their signal back to the brain, it gets stuck at the nearest joint. Again, not the Carpal Tunnel itself that is the problem, but it’s the palm of your wrist! IF you try to rub your palm and it feels crunchy (like you’re rubbing a piece of paper under the skin), then you need some help ASAP.
Nerves are what keeps RESTAGE in business. As soon as someone complains of symptoms that are more nerve-like we evaluate the ENTIRE nerve branch and nerves of close proximity to find the true reason for your pain. Then, we don’t stop there. “Hey, your nerve pain is from a tight shoulder, look we solved your problem!” No it didn’t. Why is your shoulder tight? If you don’t solve THAT problem, you’ll be dependent on whoever is “fixing” your tight shoulder.
RESTAGE is about giving you the tools to figure out what’s going on and fix them yourself on the road, until you can either get back to your favorite practitioner, or we can get onsite and work through your symptoms.
With a 50% failure rate, always be skeptical of a Carpal Tunnel diagnosis.
Sources
John D, MD, et al. Predicting the Outcome of Revision Carpal Tunnel Release. In The Journal of Hand Surgery. February 2012. Vol. 37A. No. 2. Pp. 282-287.
Genova, A., Dix, O., Saefan, A., Thakur, M., & Hassan, A. (2020). Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Review of Literature. Cureus, 12(3), e7333. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.7333
Kaehr, Robert E. (2010) "What's a Librarian to Do? Literature Review: The Carpal Tunnel Syndrome," The Christian Librarian: Vol. 53 : Iss. 2 , Article 5. Available at: http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/tcl/vol53/iss2/5
Pratt E, Vauth H, McIlvain G, Timmons MK. Musicians Have Thicker Median Nerve Cross Sectional Area and More Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Than Non-Musicians. Med Probl Perform Art. 2020 Sep;35(3):138-144. doi: 10.21091/mppa.2020.3023. PMID: 32870965.
Turchaninov, R. (2006). Medical Massage, Vol. II (Vol. 2). Aesculapius Books.