Bio-Structural Integration™: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a disorder of nerves. It happens when the nerve running from the forearm till the palm of the hand gets damaged, is pressed or squeezed. It has specific symptoms attached to it. It causes the feeling of numbness in the sufferers hand along with other occurrences of pain and tingling. Often the repetitive movement of hands over a long period of time causes this disorder. It is a very painful disorder and is often unbearable. But there are various ways to treat this disorder in an effective manner. 

The carpal tunnel is a narrow space in the wrist. It contains wrist bones and a ligament (transverse carpal ligament) across the wrist where the palm and forearm meet. Tendons and the median nerve pass through this space to your hand. The median nerve supplies feeling and some movement to part of the hand. It is usually caused when an illness or other problem makes the carpal tunnel space too small. This puts pressure on the median nerve and causes pain, tingling, and other symptoms.

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when a combination of health conditions and activities puts pressure on the median nerve as it passes through the carpal tunnel in your wrist. This pressure leads to symptoms because the median nerve supplies feeling and some movement to part of the hand. So anything that decreases the amount of space in the carpal tunnel increases the amount of tissue in the tunnel or increases the sensitivity of the median nerve can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.

Common Symptoms:

Tingling or numbness - you may experience tingling and numbness in your fingers or hand, especially your thumb and index, middle or ring fingers, but not your little finger. This sensation often occurs while holding a steering wheel, phone or newspaper or, commonly, waking you from sleeping. The sensation may extend from your wrist up your arm.  Many people "shake out" their hands to try to relieve their symptoms. As the disorder progresses, the numb feeling may become constant.

Weakness - you may experience weakness in your hand and a tendency to drop objects. This may be due to the numbness in your hand or weakness of the thumb's pinching muscles controlled by the median nerve.

Can't Sleep at Night - you may experience a loss of sleep due to a different sensations.

Things that may contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome

Conditions or illnesses that can cause or contribute to arm pain or swelling in the joints and soft tissues in the arm, or to reduced blood flow to the hands. These include:

• obesity
• rheumatoid arthritis
• gout
• diabetes
• lupus
• hypothyroidism
• Repeated hand and wrist movements - can cause the membranes surrounding the tendons to swell (tenosynovitis).  (Computer, mousing, etc.)
• Broken wrist bones, dislocated bones, new bone growth from healing bones, or bone spurs - can take up space in the carpal tunnel and put more pressure on the median nerve.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common work-related condition. It can be caused by work that requires:

1. Forceful or repetitive hand movements
2. Hand-arm vibration
3. Working for long periods in the same or awkward positions

Carpal tunnel syndrome is even more likely if you have these work-related issues along with other health conditions.

Other Treatments for Carpal Tunnel

In some cases the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome cannot be found, but it can be treated! It important that you know you have choices.  Carpal tunnel syndrome should be treated as early as possible after you begin to experience symptoms.

Tip:  If you are a regular computer user, switch your mouse or pad hand!  It only takes a few times to get used to it and that will give your affected hand a real break and could even lead to healing!

Take Breaks and Apply Cold

Some people with mild symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome can ease their discomfort by taking more frequent breaks to rest their hands, avoiding activities that worsen symptoms. 

Apply cold packs to reduce occasional swelling

If these techniques don't offer relief within a few weeks, additional treatment options include wrist splinting and medical convention suggests medications and surgery.

Splinting and other conservative treatments are more likely to help you if you've had only mild to moderate symptoms for less than 10 months.

Natural Remedies - Inflammation

Vitamin B6 and Lipoic Acid can help reduce inflammation or swelling. You should reduce or eliminate saturated fats and fried foods. Large amounts of alcohol, caffeine or tobacco also contribute to risk factors associated with Carpal Tunnel. Avoid foods containing yellow (hydrazine) dyes and boost your intake of whole grains, nuts, seeds and vegetables. If you suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, find out if you are Vitamin B6 deficient. You can get B6 through a variety of foods including sweet potatoes, avocados, brown rice, sunflower seeds, chick peas, pork, beef, chicken, turkey, potatoes, barley, bananas, mangoes. Most foods contain only about a mg of B6 per serving. It may take several weeks, even up to a few months, before you notice a change. 


Supplementing your diet with Vitamin B6 is thought to be the most effective natural remedy for Carpal Tunnel especially in the early stages of this problem. B6 reduces swelling. 


Do not take any vitamin supplement without consulting a naturopath or doctor. Taking more than 100 mg of B6 could be dangerous because the pyroxidine could cause neurological problems. You don’t want to trade one malady for another. Foods such as pineapples contain a vitamin called bromelianm, an enzyme that can help reduce tissue swelling.  

Do exercises. There are various types of exercises for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome which provide absolute comfort.

Learn about the variety of herbs that are useful for CTS.

Non-surgical therapy

If the condition is diagnosed early, non-surgical methods may help improve carpal tunnel syndrome. Methods may include:

• Wrist splinting - a splint that holds your wrist still while you sleep can help relieve nighttime symptoms of tingling and numbness. (Nighttime splinting may be a good option if you're pregnant and have carpal tunnel syndrome.)
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - NSAIDs such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) may help relieve pain from carpal tunnel syndrome in the short term.
• Corticosteroids. Your doctor may inject your carpal tunnel with a corticosteroid such as cortisone to relieve your pain. Corticosteroids decrease inflammation and swelling, which relieves pressure on the median nerve. Oral corticosteroids aren't considered as effective as corticosteroid injections for treating carpal tunnel syndrome.

There isn't evidence, however, that these drugs improve carpal tunnel syndrome.

If carpal tunnel syndrome results from an inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, then treating the arthritis may reduce symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, but this hasn't been proved.

Surgery

If your symptoms are severe or persist after trying non-surgical therapy, surgery is recommended by the medical community and in extreme cases, might be the most appropriate option.

The goal of carpal tunnel surgery is to relieve pressure on your median nerve by cutting the ligament pressing on the nerve.The surgery may be performed with two different techniques.Discuss the risks and benefits of each technique with your surgeon before surgery. Surgery risks may include incomplete release of the ligament, wound infections, scar formation, and nerve or vascular injuries. The final results of endoscopic and open surgery are similar.

Endoscopic surgery. In endoscopic surgery, your surgeon uses a telescope-like device with a tiny camera attached to it (endoscope) to see inside your carpal tunnel and cut the ligament through one or two small incisions in your hand or wrist.

Endoscopic surgery may result in less pain than does open surgery in the first few days or weeks after surgery.

Open surgery. In open surgery, your surgeon makes a larger incision in the palm of your hand over the carpal tunnel and cuts through the ligament to free the nerve. This procedure may also be conducted using a smaller incision, which may reduce the risk of complications.

During the healing process after the surgery, the ligament tissues gradually grow back together while allowing more room for the nerve than existed before.

Soreness or weakness may take from several weeks to a few months to resolve after surgery. If your symptoms were very severe before surgery, symptoms may not go away completely after surgery.

Bio-Structural Integration™ and Carpel Tunnel Syndrome

A faster and non-invasive, non-surgical, drug-free method is available at Osteoklinika; we have had continued success with our patients at all stages of carpal tunnel.   

Every cell in our body works synergistically together to maintain homeostasis. When one system is disturbed the other cannot function properly. In my method of Bio-Structural Integration™, I address the dysfunction at every level. Within one treatment I use Cranial Osteopathy to release central nervous system lesions. After that I use an Osteopathic Muscle Energy Technique to correct the joints, followed by Myofascial Release of connective tissue. Neuromuscular Massage is implemented to reduce muscular tension, and electrotherapy helps to interrupt the pain cycle. All of the above is done within a 1 hour treatment. After the structure is realigned I recommend BioFlex Low Light Laser Therapy (LLLT) to deal with inflammation. Healing is now stimulated at the cellular level. This session may take 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the condition being treated and the protocol selected. Elimination of inflammatory process assists in structural stabilization of the joints. As a result, muscles and ligaments relax; fascia releases its tension, flexibility increases bringing back normal range of motion and reduction of pain.

The program of rehabilitation could be up to 5 weeks long and provides more than 90% of success in bringing back a pain free life. If you have tried every possible known therapy and still have pain, you should not give up!  Surgery should be the last resort!  During many years of practice I developed protocols for numerous difficult-to-treat conditions.

This is not limited to carpal tunnel syndrome!

Here are some of the conditions we treat at Osteoklinika:

• Low back and Neck Pain
• Migraines and Headaches
• Shoulder, Elbow, Hip, Knee, Angle and Foot Pain
• Sciatica
• Temporal - Mandibular (Jaw) Pain
• Motor Vehicle Accidents
• Repetitive Strain Injuries
• Constipation
• Incontinence
• Neurological Disorders
• Chronic Ear Infections
• Post-Concussion Syndrome and Head Trauma
• Genitourinary Problems
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Tendinitis and Bursitis
• Dermal Ulcers
• Dermatological conditions
• Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
• Piriformis Syndrome
• Patella-Femoral Syndrome and Chondromalacia Patella
• Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Frozen Shoulder

"Bio-Structural Integration™ sets the new standard of rehabilitation that is unique, effective and provides a quick relief from pain." - Andrew Subieta

I can’t thank you enough for having helped me with the chronic pain I was experiencing in my arms and shoulders due to a medical mishap that occurred about six years ago. With the first visit to your clinic early this year, you were not only able to relieve most of the pain but you also allowed me to regain movement in my arms, which is something I was not able to do in years. I was completely shocked that after seeing numerous doctors and being put on several different types of medication, you were able to help me without the use of drugs and without many visits.

In June of 2014, I visited with you again with regard to a different matter. After being advised by one of the top neurologists at Mount Sinai Hospital that I had an acute case of carpal tunnel and that I would require surgery as soon as possible, you immediately took action again and with a few treatments by you and your associate Osteopath, combined with some laser therapy treatments, I was able to cancel my surgery date and stop taking the painkillers prescribed to me by the doctors I had seen at Markham Stouffville Hospital and at Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital.

Today, I am happy to report that I have regained almost 95% of the feeling back in my fingers and wrists and I have been able to remain surgery free.

I am not quite sure how you do what you do but I consider you somewhat of a miracle worker. I have recommended you to several people I know who have been suffering with various ailments (i.e. severe back, arm and foot pain) and they have all been extremely happy with the results you have given them.

Thank you again for everything you have done for me. I don’t think I could be living the quality of life I am living now without your outstanding and wonderful work." – Dolores | Toronto, Ontario

We provide professional osteopathic care; relieving pain, reducing stiffness and increasing mobility, so you may feel better as soon as possible.  Please call us to book your consultation at 905.660.8810. - Andrew Subieta, M.Sc., R.M.T., C.L.T. andrew@osteoklinika.com 

Also, please check our website at www.osteoklinika.com for more information about Bio-Structural Integration™, or our Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter pages.

Your Brain Becomes Addicted to Caffeine – Curbing or Quitting

Have you tried to quit your morning coffee? Within 24 hours of quitting the drug, your withdrawal symptoms begin. Initially, they’re subtle: The first thing you notice is that you feel mentally foggy, and lack alertness. Your muscles are fatigued, even when you haven’t done anything strenuous, and you notice that you’re more irritable than usual.

Over time, an unmistakable throbbing headache sets in, making it difficult to concentrate on anything. Eventually, as your body protests having the drug taken away, you might even feel dull muscle pains, nausea and other flu-like symptoms.

It is a Drug

This isn’t heroin, tobacco or even alcohol withdrawal. We’re talking about quitting caffeine, a substance consumed so widely (more than 80% of North American adults drink it daily) and in such mundane settings (say, at an office meeting or in your car) that we often forget it’s a drug — and by far the world’s most popular psychoactive one.

Caffeine Addiction:  A Mental Disorder

Like many drugs, caffeine is chemically addictive, a fact that scientists established

in 1994. Last  May, with the publication of the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), caffeine withdrawal was finally included as a mental disorder for the first time — even though its merits for inclusion are symptoms that regular coffee-drinkers have long known well from the times they’ve gone off it for a day or more.

Why, exactly, is caffeine addictive? The reason stems from the way the drug affects the human brain, producing the alert feeling that caffeine drinkers crave.

Soon after you drink (or eat) something containing caffeine, it’s absorbed through the small intestine and dissolved into the bloodstream. Because the chemical is both water and fat-soluble (meaning that it can dissolve in water-based solutions — think blood — as well as fat-based substances, such as our cell (membranes), it’s able to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain.

Structurally, caffeine closely resembles a molecule that’s naturally present in our brain, called adenosine (which is a by-product of many cellular processes, including cellular respiration) — so much so, in fact, that caffeine can fit neatly into our brain cells’ receptors for adenosine, effectively blocking them off. Normally, the adenosine produced over time locks into these receptors and produces a feeling of tiredness.

When caffeine molecules are blocking those receptors, they prevent this from occurring, thereby generating a sense of alertness and energy for a few hours.

Additionally, some of the brain’s own natural stimulants (such as dopamine) work more effectively when the adenosine receptors are blocked, and all the surplus adenosine floating around in the brain cues the adrenal glands to secrete adrenaline, another stimulant.

Buzzed

For this reason, caffeine isn’t technically a stimulant on its own, says Stephen R. Braun, the author or Buzz: the Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine, but a stimulant enabler: a substance that lets our natural stimulants run wild. Ingesting caffeine, he writes, is akin to “putting a block of wood under one of the brain’s primary brake pedals.” This block stays in place for anywhere from four to six hours, depending on the person’s age, size and other factors, until the caffeine is eventually metabolized by the body.

Brain Chemistry Will Change

In people who take advantage of this process on a daily basis (i.e. coffee/tea, soda or energy drink addicts), the brain’s chemistry and physical characteristics actually change over time as a result. The most notable change is that brain cells grow more adenosine receptors, which is the brain’s attempt to maintain equilibrium in the face of a constant onslaught of caffeine, with its adenosine receptors so regularly plugged (studies indicate that the brain also responds by decreasing the number of receptors for norepinephrine, a stimulant). This explains why regular coffee drinkers build up a tolerance over time —because you have more adenosine receptors, it takes more caffeine to block a significant proportion of them and achieve the desired effect.

This also explains why suddenly giving up caffeine entirely can trigger a range of withdrawal effects. The underlying chemistry is complex and not fully understood, but the principle is that your brain is used to operating in one set of conditions (with an artificially-inflated number of adenosine receptors, and a decreased number of norepinephrine receptors) that depend upon regular ingestion of caffeine. Suddenly, without the drug, the altered brain chemistry causes all sorts of problems, including the dreaded caffeine withdrawal headache.

If you drink more than 4 cups of coffee per day, such as more than 500 to 600 mg a day – you may experience side effects such as:

•        Insomnia
•        Nervousness
•        Restlessness
•        Irritability
•        Stomach upset
•        Fast heartbeat
•        Muscle tremors

Magnesium Deficiency

“Magnesium is the most critical mineral required for electrical stability of every cell in the body. A magnesium deficiency may be responsible for more diseases than any other nutrient.” - Dr. Norman Shealy

After oxygen, water, and basic food, Magnesium may be the most important element needed by our bodies, vitally important yet hardly known. It is more important than calcium, potassium or sodium and regulates all three of them. Millions suffer daily from magnesium deficiency without even knowing it!

Coffee, sodas and black tea can lead to a magnesium deficiency due to both the caffeine and acid content! This can cause a host of problems with regard to your health, i.e. kidney stones, pain management and inflammation.

Maybe you don’t have immediate or long-term health consequences in mind but are tired of being dependent on caffeine to get going or stay going during the day. It’s not an empowering feeling to wake up thinking about getting your “fix” and knowing you’ll suffer a monster headache if you don’t get it.

Sleep Deprivation

Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep each night. But caffeine can interfere with this much-needed sleep. Chronically losing sleep — whether it's from work, travel, stress or too much caffeine — results in sleep deprivation. Sleep loss is cumulative, and even small nightly decreases can add up and disturb your daytime alertness and performance.

Using caffeine to mask sleep deprivation can create an unwelcome cycle. For example, you may drink caffeinated beverages because you have trouble staying awake during the day. But the caffeine keeps you from falling asleep at night, shortening the length of time you sleep.

Giving Up Coffee

The good news is that, compared to many drug addictions, the effects are relatively short-term. To kick the thing, you only need to get through about 7-12 days of symptoms without drinking any caffeine. During that period, your brain will naturally decrease the number of adenosine receptors on each cell, responding to the sudden lack of caffeine ingestion. If you can make it that long without a cup of “joe” or a “spot of tea”, the levels of adenosine receptors in your brain reset to their baseline levels, and your addiction will be broken.

You won’t miss the jitters, energy crashes, teeth stains, dehydration, and nervous irritability!

Energy Drinks Have Caffeine

If you need to break your addiction to caffeine, here’s how to do it with minimal discomfort . 

Know your “why.” Why do you want to curb your caffeine intake?  Everyone I know who drinks coffee say “they say coffee is good for you, right? Antioxidants and all that?” 

Truth:  Up to 400 mg per day is regarded as safe for most healthy adults. That translates to about 4 cups (8 oz sized) of brewed coffee, 10 cans of cola or two “energy shot” drinks.  (Adolescents should be limited to 100 mg of caffeine a day.)

 I  drink _____  cups per day and my favourite cup holds ____ oz of coffee.

For some, a single cup of drip coffee causes increased sweating, nervousness, mood changes, and a caffeine crash!

Curbing Caffeine Intake

To change your caffeine habit more gradually: 

Keep tabs. Start paying attention to how much caffeine you're getting from foods and beverages. It’s usually more than you think so read the labels carefully! Even then, your estimate may be a little low because not all foods or drinks list caffeine. Chocolate, which has a small amount, doesn't.

Cut back. But do it gradually. For example, drink one fewer can of soda or drink a smaller cup of coffee each day. Or avoid drinking caffeinated beverages late in the day. This will help your body get used to the lower levels of caffeine and lessen potential withdrawal effects.

Go decaf. Most decaffeinated beverages look and taste the same as their caffeinated counterparts.

Shorten the brew time or go herbal. When making tea, brew it for less time. This cuts down on its caffeine content. Or choose herbal teas that don't have caffeine.

Check the bottle. Some over-the-counter pain relievers contain caffeine — as much as 130 mg of caffeine in one dose. Look for caffeine-free pain relievers instead.

Caution on Caffeine Consumption

Although the recent research and evidence is shifting toward a more favourable view of coffee's effect on our health, it is not based on cause and effect but on links for which there could be other explanations: it could be that regular coffee drinkers have something else in common, that studies have yet to discover, to account for the effect on health.

As usual, it is always up to you to manage your caffeine intake.  Mark Twain once said,

 “Too much of anything is not good”

and that goes for caffeine too!

At Osteoklinika:
We provide professional osteopathic care; relieving pain, reducing stiffness and increasing mobility, so you may feel better as soon as possible.  Please call us to book your consultation at 905.660.8810. - Andrew Subieta, M.Sc., R.M.T., C.L.T. andrew@osteoklinika.com 

Also, please check our website at www.osteoklinika.com for more information about Bio-Structural Integration™, or our Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter pages.

Trigger Finger: Laser Therapy at Osteoklinika

Trigger Finger Inflammation

Trigger finger, also known as stenosing tenosynovitis is a painful condition that causes the fingers or thumb to catch or lock when bent. In the thumb it is called trigger thumb. If left untreated your pain can get worse and your hand may become unusable!

Trigger finger happens when tendons in the finger or thumb become inflamed.

Tendons are tough bands of tissue that connect muscles and bones. Together, the tendons and muscles in the hands and arms bend and straighten the fingers and thumbs.

A tendon usually glides easily through the tissue that covers it (called a sheath) because of a lubricating membrane surrounding the joint called the synovium.

Sometimes a tendon may become inflamed and swollen. When this happens, bending the finger or thumb can pull the inflamed tendon through a narrowed tendon sheath, making it snap or pop.

Trigger finger occurs when inflammation narrows the space within the sheath that surrounds the tendon in the affected finger. If trigger finger is severe, your finger may become locked in a bent position.

People whose work or hobbies require repetitive gripping actions are at higher risk of developing trigger finger. Although it can occur in anyone, it is seen more frequently in the diabetic population and in women, typically in the fifth to sixth decade of life. Treatment of trigger finger varies depending on the severity.

Diagnosis of trigger finger doesn't require any elaborate testing. No X-rays or lab tests are used to diagnose trigger finger.

Causes

Trigger finger can be caused by a repeated movement or forceful use of the finger or thumb. Rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and diabetes also can cause trigger finger. So can grasping something, such as a power tool, with a firm grip for a long time. Tendons are fibrous cords that attach muscle to bone. Each tendon is surrounded by a protective sheath. Trigger finger occurs when the affected finger's tendon sheath becomes irritated and inflamed. This interferes with the normal gliding motion of the tendon through the sheath.

Prolonged irritation of the tendon sheath can produce scarring, thickening and the formation of bumps (nodules) that impede the tendon's motion even more.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of trigger finger may progress from mild to severe and include:

•        Finger stiffness, particularly in the morning
•        A popping or clicking sensation as you move your finger
•        Tenderness or a bump(nodule) in the palm at the base of the affected finger
•        Finger catching or locking in a bent position, which suddenly pops straight
•        Finger locked in a bent position, which you are unable to straighten

Trigger finger more commonly affects your thumb or your middle or ring finger. More than one finger may be affected at a time, and both hands might be involved. Triggering is usually more pronounced in the morning, while firmly grasping an object or when straightening your finger.

When to See a Health Practitioner 

If you have any stiffness or catching in a finger joint, bring it to the attention of your health practitioner so that he or she may review your symptoms and perform a physical evaluation of your hand. If your finger joint is hot and inflamed, seek immediate medical care because these signs indicate a possible infection.

Risk Factors

Factors that put you at risk of developing trigger finger include:

•  Repeated gripping - People with occupations or hobbies that require routine, repetitive finger movements, such as operating machines or power tools and playing musical instruments, are at a higher risk of developing trigger finger. If this describes you, try to switch up the hand or finger(s) you use in especially repetitive movements.
•  Occupations and hobbies that involve repetitive hand use and prolonged gripping may increase your risk of trigger finger.
• The increased use of SmartPhones and tablet devices have led to an increase in the incidence of trigger finger and thumb pain.
• Smokers can get trigger thumb from repeated use of a lighter.
•  Certain health problems such as Rheumatoid arthritis, gout, diabetes are at higher risk of developing trigger finger.
•  Your sex. Trigger finger is six times more common in women than in men.

Medical Treatment/Drugs

·       Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) or naproxen (Aleve) — may relieve the pain but are unlikely to relieve the swelling constricting the tendon sheath or trapping the tendon.

·       Steroid Injection and/or Surgery - an injection of a steroid (cortisone) near or into the tendon sheath may reduce inflammation and allow the tendon to glide freely again. This is the most common treatment, and in people who do not have diabetes, it is effective in up to 90% percent of patients. In people with diabetes, it is effective about half the time. Sometimes to obtain these results a second injection is needed.

Problem Resurfaced:

"I have had a trigger finger for several months; first the middle finger of my left hand. I had an injection that seemed to help for several weeks, then the problem resurfaced." Teacher 52 (Female)

Steroids Did Not Work:

"When I woke up in the morning, my middle finger would be stuck in the bent position. It could only be lifted back into position with my other hand, and it was very painful.The pain radiated to the palm of my hand and it was constant. I started using a splint at night to keep the finger straight. I was first given oral steroids which did not work.  I hope to have surgery soon." DB 49.

Injections Did Not Last:

"I had symptoms typical of trigger finger. Having discussed with the surgeon I opted for injection therapy.This was carried out with good effect. I had good relief of symptoms for upward of five months and now the symptoms have recurred. Now I'm thinking of going for the permanent surgical treatment." Male 55

Working through a small incision near the base of your affected finger, a surgeon can cut open the constricted section of tendon sheath.This procedure is usually done in an operating room.

There are no guarantees for treatment! NSAID's, Cortisone injections, and surgery may not be necessary and are harmful long term.

Low Light Laser Therapy at OsteoKlinika

We have great results with Trigger Finger. How do we do it? First, we know a lot about inflammation and how to treat it without drugs, invasive injections or surgery. Low Light Laser Therapy is the quickest and most effective way to relieve the inflammation in Trigger Finger. We use and recommend BioFlex Low Light Therapy to deal with inflammation. Now the healing is stimulated at the cellular level. This session may take 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on the condition being treated. Elimination of inflammatory process assists in structural stabilization of the joints and healing surrounding area.

 Recent Testimonial

"After several months of feeling as though I might have arthritis in my right middle finger, it began feeling like I'd jammed my middle finger on my right hand.The pain grew worse as time passed and at night it would 'draw' and be frozen in a bent position by the time I woke in the morning.There was no straightening it without excruciating pain, but using my left hand, I could draw the finger up to a normal position. As it worsened, it felt like my finger and down through my palm was on fire.This also made it difficult to hold things and there was weakness in those joints that made it difficult to squeeze, pick up or hold anything. I couldn't close my fist. Every finger went down except for that one finger. It was highly inflamed and I took a few Aleve with little relief, but that didn't help after the third day. I waited to see if it would get better. But it didn't. Shortly after, the pain increased I went directly to Andrew at OsteoKlinika who quickly assessed diagnosed “trigger finger” and recommended immediate low light laser -10 treatments for 30 minutes each to deal with the inflammation and subsequent healing. Taking a deep breath, I knew it was going to be very difficult to commit to such a treatment because I live in Scarborough and the clinic is in Vaughan! I admit my thoughts went to a more “immediate”, 'free' and easy solution.

After reading about trigger finger, I quickly recognized that the solutions the medical community were offering were cortisone, anti-inflammatories, injections or surgery. Knowing I I really had no other choice but to have the laser therapy, the commitment was made. In the 2^nd or 3^rd laser treatment, it felt as though it was feeling even more painful and Carol told me this is very typical with laser therapy treatments and to keep the faith! She was right because the inflammation was markedly reduced by the 4^th treatment. (I also reduced the use of my right hand and used it only for light housekeeping.)

Osteopathic Manipulation after Laser Therapy

It has been 2 weeks since my 10 laser treatments and there's little to no pain and very slight inflammation. Andrew advises the laser “keeps on working” after the 10 treatments. I am seeing the improvement now, 2 weeks later. Drug, steroid and surgery-free is always going to be my first choice. Thank you to the kind and capable staff at OsteoKlinika!" S. Bennett – Client.

Low Light Laser Therapy: 

- acts as an analgesic

- has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect

- stimulates the immune system

- regulates new healthy cells

It eliminates pain and other symptoms and with a very sophisticated architectural design, Low Light Laser Therapy is used to treat a wide spectrum of conditions that may be chronic or acute, degenerative or traumatic in origin. It is particularly useful in treating severe sports injuries, low back problems, traumatic injuries and degenerated conditions of the knees.

A typical laser treatment consists of three steps:

·       visible red light

·       invisible infra-red light

·       the application of laser probe where it is used manually in the area

An increasing number of physicians, physiotherapists, osteopaths, massage therapists, chiropractors, naturopaths, dentists and veterinarians, worldwide are using Bio-Flex Low Light Laser Therapy.

905.660.8810 OsteoKlinika

Before you consider surgery or drugs;or if you are still experiencing pain more than 6 months after surgery, for more information about inflammation and pain, Andrew Subieta can be reached at Osteoklinika Pain Management & Rehabilitation 905.660.8810. Also, please check our website at www.osteoklinika.com for learn more about our unique, trademarked process called  Bio-Structural Integration™, or our Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter pages.