Innova Pain Clinic
Double Crush Syndrome
I was discussing Double Crush Syndrome with a colleague today. We noted how little people know about the disease. At least, little compared to a condition like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Sadly, if anyone has nerve pain in the hand (any nerve pain, anywhere in the hand), most family physicians I know will instantly assume it is carpal tunnel syndrome and fail to do a differential work-up for Double Crush Syndrome.
As many of us know, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a painful condition effecting the median nerve in the hand. A compression of the nerve causes pain, tingling and numbness in the thumb and index finger. Most of the time the nerve compression is right at the wrist, under a structure called the flexor retinaculum.
Think of your hand as a garden sprinkler and the nerve is a garden hose delivering nerve-juice to the hand. If the hose is working, the sprinkler casts a good spray of water. But if you kink the hose, the sprinkler output decreases. In fact, you can kink the garden hose anywhere along its length and the effect is seen at the sprinkler. Same thing with your hand, if you kink the Median Nerve, you can experience Carpal Tunnel like symptoms. But true Carpal Tunnel Syndrome occurs when there is a crush or kink in the Median Nerve at the wrist. What if your kink is at the elbow, or shoulder, or neck?
What do you do if you find that you have a decreased sprinkler output even after unkinking the hose? You look for another kink. In a double crush syndrome, there are multiple kinks in your nerve, just like the featured photo above.
A well trained chiropractor will look for those kinks in the appropriate places. The chiropractic physician at Innova Pain Clinic will provide a careful examination of the wrist, arm, elbow, shoulder, clavicle, and neck. We perform special orthopedic exam tests to determine your exact condition and formulate a treatment plan tailored to your exact need.
Double Crush syndrome is more common than most people think. Thanks for writing about this, doc.