Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and the Upper Cervical Spine
Jarek Esarco
In the upper cervical spine, there are four main structures to focus on. They are:
The Foramen Magnum of the Occipital bone
The Atlas vertebra (1st cervical bone)
The Axis vertebra (2nd cervical bone)
The Brainstem of the Nerve System.
The Brainstem exits from the Foramen Magnum. The Atlas and Axis bones protect and surround the Brainstem. The brainstem connects all the nerves from the brain to the nerves of the body.
Regarding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome the secondary focus is on the median nerve.
The median nerve branches off from the brachial plexus. The brachial plexus is a network of nerves found in the lower neck and shoulder region. The median nerve travels down the arm and passes through the carpal tunnel. The carpal tunnel is a passageway for tendons that connect the hand to the forearm. The median nerve is the only nerve that passes through the carpal tunnel. The median nerve supplies function to the thumb, index, middle and ring fingers.
The Nerve System in general has four main functions:
It controls all the movements we make
Senses everything we feel
Regulates all our body organs
Relates us to the outside world
When nerves get stressed, it effects their sensitivity, perception and behavior to perform these functions. There are three types of stresses we deal with in life. The stresses are physical, chemical and emotional in nature. These stresses create nerve tension and spine imbalance.
One specific job of the brainstem is to adapt to these stresses and help bring the spine back into balance. If the stresses are too great for the brainstem to adapt, compensations arise. A vertebral subluxation is one particular compensation in the upper cervical spine.
A vertebral subluxation will cause the Atlas and Axis bones to get locked in a misaligned position. This lock will perpetuate spine imbalance and Nerve System tension. This tension will lead to abnormal sensitivity, perception and behavior of the brainstem and surrounding nerves. Nerve System function is disrupted.
Over time, this disruption can lead to symptoms of the involved nerves. The usual symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome are:
Tingling or numbness in the fingers or hand. Usually the thumb and index, middle or ring fingers are affected, but not the little finger. You might feel a sensation like an electric shock in these fingers.
Weakness in the hand and the dropping of objects.
Feel the need to "shake out" your hand to try to relieve symptoms.
If we reference the median nerve we can see that it associates with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome symptoms.
The goal of Chiropractic is not to medically treat the symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The aim of Chiropractic is to correct nerve tension and spine imbalance. Chiropractors correct this by adjusting the vertebral subluxation of the upper cervical spine.
Correcting the subluxation better optimizes the function of the brainstem and associated nerves. The Nerve System overall can sense, perceive and behave at a greater potential when a subluxation is corrected.
Jarek Esarco, DC, CACCP is a pediatric, family wellness and upper cervical specific Chiropractor. He is an active member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). Dr. Jarek has postgraduate certification in Pediatric Chiropractic through the ICPA. Dr. Jarek also has postgraduate certification in the HIO Specific Brain Stem technique through The TIC Institute. Dr. Jarek is happily married to his wife Regina. They live in Youngstown, Ohio with their daughter Ruby.