Our Luck’s Yard Acupuncturist, Elaine Williams explains how she would approach hand and wrist pain.
Hands and wrists; we use them constantly, take them for granted and forget how ridiculously complicated life would be without them. As with all anatomical structures, it is only when there is a malfunction or pain that we truly appreciate the extent to which they enhance our lives.
The dexterity of the human hand is a reflection of its complexity. As with any complex structure there are many things that can go awry. Hand and wrist pain can be a common presentation to both the acupuncturist and chiropractor. Common problems reflect current lifestyle habits and trends. For instance ‘texting thumb’ has become more prevalent over the last few years where overuse inflames the tendons and surrounding tissues causing pain and stiffness in the wrist and thumb. Subsequently, this can be a cause of arthritis. ‘Smartphone pinky’ from using the little finger to support your smartphone results is the little finger separating away from the ring finger and can develop bumps depending on how you hold your phone.
The other common activity that creates problems for hands and wrists is daily typing on a keyboard. This is now an integral part of our life and work but a huge source of strain for our unfortunate hands and wrists forced to repeat these fine motor movements on a daily basis.
Anyone having suffered from the debilitating symptoms of hand and wrist pain knows that there can be a myriad of causes from fractures, gout, arthritis, sprains, carpal tunnel, ganglions, cysts, swollen fingers and hands as a result of allergies, heart disease or kidney problems. Disc problems in the neck can cause numbness, pain and tingling in the hands, rheumatoid arthritis can leave the hands feeling as if they are trapped in a vice. The list is long.
Both medical and complementary medical therapies aim to reduce inflammation and improve mobility by dealing with the underlying cause.
The acupuncturist considers many aspects of health when treating pain. Although the pain may be in the hand and wrist many factors are important to the acupuncturist when deciding how to treat you. This could include the quality of your sleep, digestive health, whether you have a tendency to feel hot or cold, what time of day your pain is worse or better. These, sometimes seemingly unrelated, questions can provide insight and relevant information to the acupuncturist as to why you may be susceptible to your condition when people around you with similar habits seem to escape any such symptoms.
The information elicited informs the acupuncturist how to treat your condition by selecting the relevant acupuncture points. Also considered are the qualities of your pulse. In Chinese medicine it is not only the pulse rate that is important, but the relationships between the meridians felt through the pulse. Even stranger is the examination of the tongue. In Chinese medicine the tongue reveals important information about the health of the organs and how to strengthen the weak links in the system in order to enable tissues to heal.
Once the preliminary information has been gathered the acupuncturist will select acupuncture points which will be the most powerful to restore balance to the whole system, in addition to the painful area. It can initially seem unusual to have points in the spine used to treat the hand or points on the leg and foot to treat problems in the tendons of the wrist, however, the tiny needles inserted into various different points can have incredibly soothing effects on areas of pain.
Fundamentally, as in all systems of medicine ‘prevention is better than cure’. Lifestyle choices are as important as the treatment and in an ideal world will eliminate the need for treatment. In China the word Doctor was synonymous with the word teacher. The Doctor’s role was to teach you how to look after your health.
In August the spotlight is on hand and wrist health, so what better time to reflect on the wonderful work that your hands do for you and the many ways that they enhance your life. Remember to give them the care that they deserve and hopefully prevent them from developing any of the above conditions.
If you would like to book an appointment with Elaine you can book online here: https://www.lucksyardclinic.com/lucks-yard-online-appointment-booking/ or  call our Reception Team on 01483 527945.
You can read more about Elaine here: https://www.lucksyardclinic.com/meet-the-team/elaine-williams-acupuncture-and-cranial-osteopathy/
Photo: Tiana at pexels.com
