Carpal tunnel syndrome causes numbness and/or tingling in the fingers. Many people think that any numbness/tingling in the hand is carpal tunnel syndrome. The truth is that carpal tunnel syndrome is a very specific diagnosis and has a specific presentation. This video explains exactly what it is. Numbness in the hands can be caused by a few systemic conditions as well so it is important to have your symptoms evaluated by a professional to ensure you get the correct diagnosis and treatment. A Chiropractor will be able make that diagnosis and recommend treatment options.
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When you’ve visited your doctor and they tell you there is a bulging disc in your back, what is that? Perhaps you’ve been told you have a protruding disc or a herniated disc? In this article you are going to learn what each of terms mean. What is a disc?To begin, you’re going to need to know what a disc is in the first place. A disc is the object that lives between the vertebrae in your spine. They can be thought of as a jelly donut; they have a firm fibrous outside layer called the annulus fibrosus with a jelly in the middle. The jelly in the middle is called the nucleus pulposus. What is a disc bulge?
What is a disc herniation?A disc herniation essentially occurs when the jelly has been pushed out of the donut (when the inner nucleus has pushed through the outer annulus). The jelly that has pushed out of the donut is still attached to the jelly inside the donut. Disc herniations are further broken down into a disc protrusion and a disc extrusion, which describes the shape of the herniation. Understanding the shape of a disc herniation isn't really important for this conversation, so we won't discuss it here. What is a disc sequestration?
Asher, A. (2019, November 4). How to Keep Your Intervertebral Discs Healthy. Retrieved January 11, 2020, from https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-intervertebral-disk-296561. Ravenswood Chiropractic and Wellness Center (n.d.). Disc Herniation. Retrieved from https://www.rennwellness.com/wp-content/cache/all/disc-herniation.html/index.html. What is the Rotator Cuff?When a doctor is talking about the rotator cuff they are referring to 4 different muscles that keep the shoulder in the socket. These muscles are Supraspinatus (#1), Infraspinatus (#2), Teres minor (#3), Subscapularis (#4). What is a Rotator Cuff tear?A rotator cuff tear is a muscle tear in any one of the four rotator cuff muscles. A muscle tear is any disruption of the muscle fibers of a particular muscle. Since muscles are 3D, tears do not always mean that a muscle has “torn in half”. There are a few different types of tears and I will describe them here. Each of these tears can happen on their own in one muscle, or they can happen at the same time in more than one muscle of the rotator cuff. Partial TearFull Thickness Tear
Complete TearSo as you can see, when a doctor simply tells you that you have a rotator cuff tear, this is not very specific. As a Chiropractor we would want to know more information in order to direct your recovery from the tear. We would want to know what muscle(s) the tear is in, and what kind of tear it is. In the clinic we can use orthopaedic testing to determine what muscle(s) your tear is in.
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Dr. Jason AdamsDr. Jason Adams is a Chiropractor in Calgary, Alberta. Archives
February 2020
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