Greetings, dear friends, it's another week in the Steemit Learning Challenge, and I'm delighted to join the contest organized here by @ashkhan. This week we are looking at a topic Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
| What's carpal tunnel syndrome? Write in your own words after getting knowledge from the lesson post. |
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When there is a compression of the median nerve around the wrist region which is always found around the hand parts we say that the condition is termed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). The median nerve is always incharge of controlling the movement which takes place around the wrist.
Let's look at a few of the symptoms associated with the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) as discussed in the lecture and based on my little findings.
One of the major symptoms of the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is the pain one feels. You have pains in your wrist around you hand region and this pain can extend to your arms as it grows more.
Aside the pain one feels another major thing that people feel is weakness of the hand or affected areas. Since there are pains around it is difficult for you to use the hand to carry out any task as it will becom so weak to even hold or carry any object.
Another part to look at here is the causes of the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). There are many things that can cause this but I will be discussing the most common once with us.
One of the major cause of the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is when you repetitively perform a certain action or task. Take for instance when you are always at your keyboard, playing musical instruments and many more.
Another cause of the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is found with pregnant women. When a woman is pregnant, due to some hormonal changes, the nerve in her wrist may compress and that will cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).
Finally, we can say a prolong abnormal position of the wrist can also cause the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). If you keep your wrist in a condition that isn't good for a long time then it can cause someone to have this very issues as well.
Having looked at the symptoms and the causes of the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), let's also look at the treatment that can be provided for individual having this same issues.
One of the major treatments to look at is ensuring we avoid repetitive works such as the once I have earlier listed above as it will help us tackle the issues faster.
Also the placements of the wrists is very important. So when taking a nap or while sleeping at night you must ensure you keep the wrist in a good position so that it doesn't generate pains leading to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).
More also, you can take a preventive measures if you have some task you do always that may lead to having the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and some of the preventive measures are seen below.
Always ensure to stretch and strengthen your wrist everytime especially in the morning and night period before and after sleeping this will help keep the wrist and muscles around it very active.
When you are doing a task that may lead to this issues, task like the repetitive ones I mentioned earlier in this publication you must ensure to always have a break always so that your wrist and nerve will get their desired rest.
| How would you diagnose a carpal tunnel syndrome? Any clinical investigation or assessment tests? |
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In other to properly diagnose Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), one must try to combine among other things the Clinical History of the patient, Physical Examination, Diagnostic Tests, Imaging Studies and the Differential Diagnosis. When you pass through these phases you will be sure to diagnose carpal tunnel syndrome.
The first thing to check when diagnosing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the clinical history of the patient. Here you must check for the symptoms the patient is having, check for the type of activity that the person is doing and finally you must check the condition of the person such as pregnancy, diabetes and many more.
Immediately after the clinical diagnoses of the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, the next one you must consider is the physical examination of the patient. Here you are to check for the weakness of the wrist by allowing the hand to carry an object and also see how far it will sustain and hold on to the object and if the patient complains of pain or not.
The next step after the physical examination, you may go ahead to carry out the Diagnostic Tests where you will have the opportunity to carry out several test to ensure you confirm that the patient is suffering from the said issue. So a check or test on the nerve and the muscles are carried out to know why pains are recorded in the wrist and why it is weak as well.
If the test doesn't give a very suitable result that clearly shows the carpal tunnel syndrome you then go ahead to carry out the Imaging Studies. During this time you can carry out an MRI test or ultrasound.
Aside the above listed diagnosis, you can as well try other means like the Cervical radiculopathy, Peripheral neuropathy and many more. Whichever you decided to do it should bring a more suitable solutions.
| Try to practice at least 3 exercises that you have learned from the lesson. Share images, gifs or videos while practicing preferably gifs or videos. |
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Wrist Rotations
From the above video you will notice me carrying out the wrist rotation. In rotating my wrist I was moving my hands very well and also I ensured that I kept my shoulder relax as I try to make sure the pains and stiffness within the wrist disappear.
Arm Prayer Stretch
Another case is the video I performed the Arm Prayer Stretch which I placed my hands as though I was praying. I felt some relief on my arms and shoulder during the exercise and the pain wasn't much.
Median Nerve Glides
Here in this video we also see another form of exercise called the median nerve glides where I kept my hand on the wall and then slightly moved my head to different direction. While doing this I noticed that all the nerve within my system started responding and I was able to effectively stretch.
| Share your review after performing these exercises either on yourself, healthy individual or patient. |
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After carrying out the whole exercise I felt very relief because I noticed all my muscles well stretched and also my wrist also Strengthened. At first what I noticed was the sound that joint started making which made me to know that something was indeed happening within my hands.
After carrying out the exercise I felt relief in all of the joints that was stretched and that made me knew the importance of carrying out this exercise always. Since after this exercise I started ensuring that I stretch my hands and wrist morning and night and I hear the bone movement within my hands always.
Everytime I do this I notice a little change within my system as I become more active to responses and the wrist becomes even more stronger. So that is my experience after carrying out this very task.
Finally I want to invite @josepha, @suboohi and @dove11 to also share their participation in this contest if they haven't done that already.
Upvoted! Thank you for supporting witness @jswit.
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Thank you for understanding the lesson and sharing your assignment; I hope that you will enjoy this week's lesson and try to implement it in your life if you see any such case.
Observations
Task 1 (2.6/3)
You have shared a great knowledge about carpal tunnel syndrome, its symptoms, cause, but didn't add its types. There are 4 types that I explained in the lesson. Acute, chronic, primary and secondary. A bit more depth require to complete the answer. I appreciate your effort.
Task 2 (2.5/3)
In the second question, you tell us about how you have to assess a patient by doing physical examination, history taking, investigations but didn't add special tests like phalen's and reverse Phalen's Test. You can also add the main investigations NCS and EMG. Good.
Task 3 (4/4)
You try the wrist rotations, median nerve glides and arm prayer stretch exercises. You did the wrist rotations, median nerve glides, arm prayer stretch correctly. Always remember to apply heat pack before performing exercises to relax the muscles and reduce stiffness. I appreciate your efforts.
Overall you made a great attempt to answer all the questions. I appreciate your efforts. But next time try to avoid the above written suggestions. Keep learning and try to implement your knowledge to the people suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome or any type of wrist. Thank you.
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