Hi Najoo,

Welcome to the group.  The good news is you probably don’t really have CTS, but you do have repetitive strain injury of the muscles that cross over the median nerve.  The median nerve begins in your neck, goes under your collarbone and front of your shoulder, down your biceps and forearm (flexor side – underside of your forearm), through the carpal tunnel and then it ends in your hand.  

There is a well-documented medical phenomena called “the Gate Theory” that explains why pressure anywhere along the length of a nerve will cause tingling/numbness/pain at the end of the nerve.  In fact, people who have had a limb removed may even feel pain in the missing part (ie, foot pain after a leg has been removed).  This phenomena is called “the phantom limb”.  Having said all of this, it explains why you may be feeling pain &/or numbness in your hand but the pressure on the nerve is usually coming from someplace else along its length.

More good news, you don’t need surgery or drugs to work on the muscles that are crossing over the median nerve.  You simply need to learn how to locate the spasms to release the tension.  I suggest you go to www.aboutcts.com and after reading through the website (especially the section titled “Anatomy Lessons”), we could talk again.

I had CTS so bad that I couldn’t lift my left flat hand off a desk to bring my thumb to the two-o’clock position, and I couldn’t hold a pencil in my fingers.  Surgery was also suggested, and none of the drugs, etc., worked. It turned out that the pressure on the nerve was coming from my neck and the flexor muscles. I am positive that treating the muscles will work for the vast majority of people, and you can always opt for surgery if you fall into the tiny percentage of people who actually have fluid or structural problems in your wrist.

Wishing you well,

     Julie

-----Original Message-----
From: monpnl [mailto:monpnl@...]
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 1:26 PM
To: repetitivestrain@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [repetitivestrain] New here, can I share my experience ?

Hi Group,

I just joined today. I would like to share my condition of CTS:

I am 30.I am not using computer much, more reading on the screen than
taping. no real hard work with my hands, but I am very much stressed.

It started a few months ago. First, I did not pay too much attention
to those tinglings in my fingers that woke me up during the night...
But it become insisting...and it was CTS.

I only have the tingling sensation, in both my hands, and sometimes
also in my feet. Mo real pain just this bothering feeling especially
when during my sleep. Sometimes the pain gets till my upper arm, and
even my shoulder and back, like somebody pressing my arm, but this is
not constant. I noticed that when I am the most stressed that I have
pain in my arm and shoulder.

The Dr. gave me injections : Dexamethasone 4 mg and ibuprofen 75 mg,
every other day for 3 times, and ibuprofen 50 mg tablets 2 times a
day for one month.
In the beginning of the injections, all the pain was gone, but after
a few days, it  was like nothing happenend. Sometimes when I hang on
the phone, my hand is so weak, i have to make an effort to reopen it.

Now, I stopped the pills, the Dr. said it seems useless. I should do
the EMC/NCV to know how much is the severity of my CTS. He said if it
is severe, then I need surgery, if not, may be I should use high dose
steroids right into the nerve.

I defineteley "will not" go trough surgery, as apparently all this is
from stress. ALso, I dont have real pain, just a bothering sensation
of dysesthesia.

My questions:

1- Do I need to do the EMC/NCV anyway ? and how is it done ?
2- Have you heard about EFT. I read some articles about CTS releaved
with this technique. Does anybody know about that ?
3- What non chirurgical ways do you suggest me ?

So sorry if my post is long, but I am sure you all know when you have
this feeling you want to share with people who know your pain.

Thanking you in advance.

Najoo.




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