How Active Release Technique (ART) can help resolve carpal tunnel syndrome?
Certain practitioners do not look beyond the actual carpal tunnel when testing or treating CTS. An ART practitioner in the United States found that the most common area of irritation or compression of the median nerve in individuals suffering from CTS symptoms was not at the carpal tunnel but, higher up in the forearm, due to a muscle called pronator teres.2 This shows the importance for the whole course of the median nerve to be assessed. A chiropractor will use ART to successfully locate and remove adhesive restrictions (scar tissue) that compress and irritate the median nerve in the arm, wrist and hand. A chiropractor will also evaluate the neck and shoulder regions, which are other areas which may contribute to CTS symptoms. • “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Fact Sheet,” NINDS. Publication date November 2002. • Leahy, Michael: Improved Treatments for Carpal Tunnel and Related Syndromes. Chiropractic Sports Medicine; Vol. 9, No. 1, 1995.
