Remember not to treat the diagnosis until you have confirmed the involved nerve(s) with a good examination. Many times the diagnosis of CTS is given when the primary nerve affected is the ulnar nerve. That being said simply treat the median nerve and/or other nerves found to be involved–I commonly find ulnar nerve involvement–just as demonstrated in the videos.
Another consideration is lower cervical and upper thoracic spine involvement. I find properly timed and applied adjustments to the appropriate vertebral levels have a beneficial impact in CTS patients.
Two of these modalities together have been shown to reverse the signs and symptoms of CTS–including thenar wasting–in our practice.
Hi Dr. King. Upper thoracic spine? Why and how?
Mmm, Greg, I’ve found ‘thoracic outlet’ type symptoms combined with carpal tunnel often responds to cercicothoracic adjustments.Â
But I look forward to Dr. King’s response.
Why upper TSP? I see it’s dysfunction in this patient population.  Possibly for the reason Belinda mentions.
Why does it have an impact? I would think there are a number of hypothesis we can consider.
- T1 joint dysfunction impacts the T1 root which impacts the brachial plexus thus impacting all neural tissues in the plexus.
- T1 joint dysfunction impacts cervical spine kinematics thus potentially impacting the nerve roots directly related to the median nerve.
- Adverse mechanical tension on T1 nerve root may have a reaching impact on mechanical tension in the other nerve roots and thus and impact on their neurological function.
Not an exhaustive list by any means but definitely food for thought.
There’s some collateral t-spine supply to the upper arm. It was my saving grace when brachial plexopathy took out most of the muscles on my dominant hand.