Did you know this about carpal tunnel syndrome?

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Did you know this about carpal tunnel syndrome?

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common condition that causes pain, tingling, and weakness in the hand and wrist. It typically develops when the median nerve is compressed. Common interventions are hand therapy exercises, splinting, and pain medications. In severe cases, injections or surgery is often recommended.

Can acupuncture help carpal tunnel syndrome?

Acupuncture is considered a minimally invasive and conservative option to help with chronic pain and pain from CTS. Acupuncture and dry needling can help to decrease local trigger points, increase blood flow to the area to speed healing and calm inflammation, and work to decrease local and systemic pain.

What do the studies say?

One study in particular looked at how acupuncture can help with CTS. This study had participants use the Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire before treatment started to access pain and numbness symptoms for a baseline to compare post-study and 3-months post-study for follow-up. In addition, nerve conduction studies and functional magnetic resonance brain imaging “PET scans” were done at baseline and following therapy.

Participants were grouped in three groups: electroacupuncture at local points, electroacupuncture at distal points, and control “no acupuncture or non-penetrating placebo needle” group. Acupuncture was done for 16 sessions over 8 weeks.

What did the results show?

The results showed that all three groups showed reduce pain and symptoms, the groups receiving actual acupuncture either distal or locally on wrist were superior to the placebo group that did not receive acupuncture. Interestingly, the group that received local acupuncture had sustained improvement on brain imaging reports at 3-month follow-up. In addition, they found that acupuncture at local and distal sites may improve median nerve function at the wrist by improving neuroplasticity in the primary somatosensory cortex of the brain following therapy.