Treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – Glastonbury, CT

What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

The Median Nerve is one of the three main nerves than run down the arm. It comes down the front of the elbow and forearm and goes into the wrist and palm. To get past the bones in your wrist, it passes through a special canal, the Carpal Tunnel. The nerve shares the carpal tunnel with the tendons that flex the fingers. When any of the soft tissues inside the tunnel become inflamed, the nerve gets compressed or pinched, and then it becomes irritated. This results in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

What Causes Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is most often is caused by:

• Repetitive hand and wrist movements
• Frequently bending of the wrist
• Wrist injuries
• Pregnancy

You’re also more likely to develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome if you have arthritis, diabetes, or a thyroid disorder.

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What are the Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

The first symptom of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is typically numbness and tingling in the palm part of your thumb, index, and middle fingers. In some cases, the tingling sensations can radiate from your wrist into those fingers. It NEVER involves the pinky or the back of the hand. You could also feel wrist pain and develop hand weakness that’s severe enough to make you drop objects. Some patients have the sensation that their fingers are swollen even when they’re not.

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How is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treated?

The classic treatments for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome include wearing a brace, taking anti-inflammatory medications, and sometimes getting cortisone shots. If these measures fail to relieve the problem, most doctors will recommend surgery.

The doctors at the New England Stem Cell Institute take another approach that can help you avoid uncomfortable braces as well as surgery. We treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome with a simple--and painless-- in-office procedure called nerve hydrodissection. During nerve hydrodissection, we mix an IV fluid containing dextrose (a sugar) and water with a small amount of Novocaine™. Then, your doctor uses ultrasound to precisely inject the mixture around the distressed nerve. The fluid decompresses the pinched nerve by freeing it from the surrounding tissues. The sugar in the solution triggers a healing response that helps repair soft tissue damage and reduces inflammation. In advanced cases of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, we can add platelet-rich plasma or other orthobiologics containing growth factors to the injection to improve healing.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Frequently Asked Questions

While most people have heard of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome before, they don’t know much about it beyond it involving pain in the hand and wrist. If you believe you have the condition or have already been diagnosed with it, getting the information you need can be a big help and let you know what to do next. Below, you’ll find answers to some of the most common CTS questions we receive every day, but if there is anything else you’d like to ask, don’t hesitate to give us a call.

How is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome diagnosed?

If any of the symptoms touched on above sound familiar, we recommend coming to see us so we can evaluate your hand/wrist and determine whether or not you’re actually suffering from CTS. Chronic hand and wrist pain can stem from many causes, and CTS is a very specific condition. Your doctor will give you an exam and use diagnostic ultrasound so they can identify whether or not your discomfort is due to the median nerve becoming compressed.

Will my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome go away on its own?

Most likely no. If a patient continues to engage in the motion that is the underlying cause of their CTS, the condition will only become worse over time, usually to the point that the hand cannot be trusted to maintain a grip. If CTS is due to an injury, a patient may only recover partial functionality without professional intervention. It’s always best to talk to a doctor as soon as you suspect you have CTS, because waiting will only allow the condition to progress and require more extensive treatment.

Is surgery the fastest way to treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Surgery for CTS is usually considered a last resort, because while effective, it is notably more expensive and requires more recovery time versus other conservative treatments. Most people prefer wearing a brace or undergoing regenerative medicine as this causes less interruption in someone’s daily life and can provide lasting pain relief and improved functionality that may exceed what surgery can accomplish alone.

How long does Carpal Tunnel Syndrome treatment take?

The amount of time needed, and the type of treatment utilized, will be different from patient to patient based on the extent and severity of their CTS. Minor CTS can often be abated relatively quickly by wearing a brace and modifying the activity that led to the condition. For more complicated/advanced cases, we may recommend prolotherapy, PRP, or stem cell therapy, which may take a few weeks or months as they jumpstart the body’s natural healing processes. When you come to see us for a consultation, we’ll go over your options and let you know how they will affect your specific situation so you can decide what is best for you.