Pain in the shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist or hand from the cervical spine?
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Over the years people have accepted that the pain in the shoulder, arm, elbow, hands, wrists, and fingers, or tingling or numbness should indicate a localized problem at the point of suffering. If applying a local therapy relieves the symptoms it seems logical to suspect it is only a local problem and the problem has now been solved. But, some people may only feel a temporary relief before the symptoms reappear, or worse yet, the frustration of no relief at all. How do you develop symptoms similar to carpal tunnel syndrome or tennis elbow or shoulder problems as a consequence of an old whiplash type injury or chronic poor posture of the cervical spine? No known injury to your shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, or hand, however, you feel pain. Why is this?
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Why does this happen?
Because the body is a complex network of bones, joints, tissues, nerves, ligaments, muscles and other components, it is possible that a symptom in one part of the body can be caused by a problem in another part of the body. The locomotor system requires a comprehensive approach to care, more holistic, as opposed to the classical approach of a local exam and therapy. Doctors tend to specialize in different systems of the body. Specialists are usually good at specific diseases and disorders but occasionally come to a wrong conclusion when the locomotor system is involved. |
Pain in the wrist and elbow secondary to motor neuropathy at the cervical spine.
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For example, research continues to emerge that shows that this is the case in patients suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. Recent studies have shown that the symptomatology of this syndrome is caused by a loss of neurophysiological and biomechanical equilibrium at the cervical spine. This could be due to chronic poor posture, or and old neglected injury that with time irritates the spinal nerve roots that then cause pain in the elbow, arms, wrists or hands. We have become a society distorted by the habitual posture in which we assume for most of the day. People get in the car, then sit at a desk hunched over a computer, then back to the car and finally ending up on the couch at home. This continuous poor posture and lack of movement creates a loss of equilibrium in the locomotor system. When you have the rounding posture of the shoulders and head forward, the muscles in the neck and shoulders compress the nerves that run to the arms. This chronic irritation in the neck and shoulders, then produces pain, tingling or numbness in the elbow, arm wrist or hand.
Therefore
Carpal tunnel secondary to motor neuropathy at the cervical spine.
The same rounded shoulders and forward head posture can also cause "trigger points" in the muscles of the neck, shoulders and arms that when activated are capable of creating spontaneous pain at a distance. These points can create referred pain in the hands, wrists and arms, causing the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome for example. This is the reason why pain in the hands, wrists, elbows and arms, tingling or symptoms "carpal tunnel syndrome" or "tennis elbow" is usually caused from the neck and shoulders.
To see a chiropractor for a correct analysis of the locomotor system is the key to a proper diagnosis. A poor analysis leads to a wrong diagnosis and failed treatment. If symptoms in the wrist are due to a loss of locomotor equilibrium from an old neglected neck injury or chronic poor posture which irritates the spinal nerve roots and and creates subsequent trigger points, surgery on the wrist will not be definitive over the long term.
To better understand click the cervical spine.
To see a chiropractor for a correct analysis of the locomotor system is the key to a proper diagnosis. A poor analysis leads to a wrong diagnosis and failed treatment. If symptoms in the wrist are due to a loss of locomotor equilibrium from an old neglected neck injury or chronic poor posture which irritates the spinal nerve roots and and creates subsequent trigger points, surgery on the wrist will not be definitive over the long term.
To better understand click the cervical spine.