I have had pain in my hands for a few years and felt it getting worse as time went by. It was especially bad back in the Spring of 2023, when it was so bad that I didn’t want to play the bass guitar anymore. Our band was gigging a lot, just about every weekend, and if I wanted to get through a 3 or 4 hour gig, I’d have to refrain from doing anything physical with my hands the day before, otherwise my hands would cramp up around the 2nd of our 3-set night.
The pain got so bad, I went to a neurologist about 10 years ago to see if they could help. Dr. Whatshisface, the first guy said, after examining me, “Why don’t you just get the surgery? It’s not that bad. This is what they do…” and he explained the surgery to me. Yeah, that’s not very convincing. Needless to say I was not impressed with this guy and never went back. That’s a $40 co-pay gone forever.
About 10 years went by when I decided to give a neurologist another try. All the while, I’ve been going to a chiropractor for my back pain. More on him later. The 2nd neurologist, Dr. Whoziewhatsit, was okay but I wasn’t 100% convinced he was doing me any good. After a few tests and some exams, he concluded that I do have mild carpal tunnel syndrome but he also thought there was some other injury or strain that was contributing to it. He put me on meloxicam, an arthritis medication. I was taking that daily and that definitely took the edge off, but the pain was still there. The side effects were really bad heartburn, so I ended up taking antacid pills for that. So now I’m taking 2 pills a day and it’s kinda working and I have terrible heartburn.
I was really thinking about doing the surgery at this point, which was just about the Spring of 2024, even mentioning it to my chiropractor. His reply was “DON’T LET THEM CUT YOU OPEN FOR THAT! Let’s try some things here.” And he did. It was painful to begin with but is less painful when he’s doing his massaging/release thing. Myofascial release. Wow. Say what you will about chiropractors. They’re quacks, not real doctors…whatever. The guy I go to is great, Dr. Matt. I trust him.
When I was 19 or so, I worked as a carpet installer apprentice and messed up my back. I had back pain every day for years and even tried physical therapy twice; nothing helped. When my brother in law suggested a chiropractor, I tried it and have never looked back. My back pain is gone. Now my carpal tunnel is on its way out. Dr. Matt can feel where there’s stress or whatever and can work it out of my body. I’m sold.
The way Dr. Matt does it, he starts on my upper back and shoulders and either with his hands or with this stainless steel ball bearing thing, massages it into my back muscles. He can feel where there’s tension and can always pinpoint exactly where the trigger point is and starts there. I can feel the sensation move down my back into my arm most times, it’s like a warm sensation, almost like the nerves are firing all the way down my back into my arm and into my hand. He does this massage-thing on my biceps that’s especially painful, but I’m so relieved after he does it–it’s totally worth the pain.
My advice to someone thinking about having the carpal tunnel syndrome surgery? DON’T DO IT! Try myofascial release first!
-TG, November 2024