What is the Carpal Tunnel? The Carpal Tunnel is located on the palm side of your wrist. It is a tunnel to protect the median nerve which controls index and middle finger function. If there is any kind of blockage, pressure or inflammation in this tunnel it puts pressure on the nerve, creating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Symptoms Carpal Tunnel syndrome typically starts with a vague aching in your wrist that…
I don’t watch a lot of TV but I did happen to spot this advert for Nurofen. Now I’m pretty sure that a couple of nurofen isn’t going to make a huge difference if you have a migraine but what this advert does show is how the physical structures in the head and neck affect headaches. Tension headaches and migraines are both related to physical issues – tension in the…
I’ve written a few times now about nerve pain and how it confuses treatment. The problems with nerve pain are: Identifying it Finding the root cause And this is why you can be having the best tennis/golfers elbow treatment, the best carpal tunnel treatment, the best knee and leg pain treatment with no effect. Because it’s actually a problem with the nerve supplying that area not that area itself. The…
Most of us are familiar with sciatica, when the discs in the lower spine (specifically L3) get compressed and start to press onto the sciatic nerve. This causes pain and tingling in the leg and buttock as well as leg weakness and pain into the foot. In fact sciatica is often used as a “catch all” term to describe all kinds of nerve issues coming from the lower back and…
Neck pain, so much more than a pain in the neck! When I spoke about whiplash I mentioned some of the other conditions and symptoms which whiplash victims can also suffer from. And the reason why whiplash victims often end up with a whole laundry list of symptoms apparently unconnected to their neck? Every single nerve in the body travels through the neck. And every single action in the body,…
The Griffith University in Australia recently did some research looking at patient satisfaction during musculoskeletal treatment. One of the key factors in making patients feel the most satisfied and the least depressed was having an X-ray. Of course there are now a multitude of investigations available, and while an X-ray might make you feel better it might not give your clinician the information they need. These are some of the…
I’ve spoken about both of these conditions before and the difficulty in getting a good resolution to both, but there is a common cause to both conditions, one which is often ignored. New research published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons shows that “patients with carpal tunnel syndrome are more than twice as likely to have migraine headaches”. The study then poses the question: “Could Migraine indicate a higher…
The knee is the largest joint in the body and one of the most complex having 4 bones, more than 20 muscles each with a tendon, 4 major ligaments as well as many little ones, and at least 3 layers of cartilage. Here is an A-Z of everything you need to know about the knee Arthroscopy An operation to “clean” inside the knee joint. Only about a 3% success rate but…
One of the easiest ways to prevent big problems is to get to know your body. Then if something changes even slightly you notice it quickly and can get it addressed. So you need to get to know your breasts. Then if there are any changes you can quickly and easily get them checked out. Stay in control of your health. If you notice any of these symptoms and need…