Tingling Fingers Case Study 1

Tingling fingers troubling you? Read this Raleigh Acupuncture tingling fingers case study to see how acupuncture can help you.

The Problem

A patient came in last week complaining of tingling in the fingers of her right hand. When describing the sensation, she placed her left hand over her right palm-side forearm, wrist and palms, indicating that these areas felt tight. She also said that her left neck was chronically tight.

The question before us was, “What is the cause of her tingling fingers?” One of the reasons the Raleigh Acupuncture tingling fingers treatment has a high success rate of resolving pain is because we treat the root cause of the pain. That means the first priority is finding the true source of the pain. But what was hers?

Finding The Source

Here are a few things to know about tingling fingers. They most often come from nerve impingement. But that impingement can be happening at the wrist, shoulder or neck.

When someone feels tightness in the palm-side forearm and wrist, chances are that carpal tunnel syndrome is responsible for their tingling fingers. Carpal tunnel is when tightness around the wrist presses on the median nerve, causing the fingers to tingle and go numb. We have a great treatment to resolve this type of nerve compression. It’s such a good treatment that we could put the entire carpal tunnel surgery machine out of business if people knew about it.

Another source of tingling fingers is impingement of the spinal nerves at the neck. Culprits included very tight neck muscles and bulging discs. Our current patient had a tight neck, but on the opposite side of her tingling fingers. Not your typical presentation.

The third possibility was nerve impingement at the shoulder, but our patient had no complaints about pain in her shoulder. Given these facts, we decided to make her first treatment focus on carpal tunnel syndrome. If there was significant lessening of the tingling fingers we would know that was the cause. If not, we would turn to the other possibilities.

The Plot Thickens

Our patient returned the following week.  There was some easing of the finger tingling.  But interestingly, she was much more certain now that her neck was causing the problem.  And now, the right side of her neck seemed to be the issue.  

At the time of her first treatment, she complained about tightness in her left neck.  However, it is common for a patients’ perspective to evolve once treatments begin.  In the present case, our patient had a very high pain threshold and simply did not notice how tight her right neck was compared to the discomfort she was having with her fingers.

So the second treatment built on what was done in the first, and in addition we began treating the right neck.  The goal here was to release the neck tightness, improve blood circulation, and teach the brain to relax the muscles in the neck.  

Acupuncture works on all of these levels.  It’s one reason we get such good long-term results.  We don’t just release tightness.  We also communicate with the patient’s internal regulator (brain function) and help it create a new-normal balance in the body.

A week later, upon the patient’s arrival for her third visit, she reported significant reduction in finger tingling of the right hand.  In addition, her neck felt much better.  She had not even been aware how tight and painful her neck had been.

Within six treatments, the finger tingling was completely resolved.  Also her neck was the best it had felt in years.  She was ready to start exercising again!

Raleigh Acupuncture Tingling Fingers Treatment – Conclusions

This case required treating two root conditions at the same time.  There was no fancy machine to diagnose the problem.  Just common sense observation and good listening skills.  The patient most always knows best what is going on with their own bodies.  A good practitioner will be able to piece the clues together and create a good treatment plan.

Next Steps

If you are struggling with tingling fingers, come in for acupuncture.

BOOK NOW to schedule an appointment online.

WATCH VIDEO ABOUT OUR CARPAL TUNNEL TREATMENT.

LEARN ABOUT ALL THE PAIN CONDITIONS WE TREAT.

If you are intrigued by the Raleigh Acupuncture tingling fingers treatment and want more information, give us a call at 919-819-8113. We’ll be happy to discuss it with you.