Can acupuncture help cure carpal tunnel pain?

Have you felt that weird numbness and tingling sensation in your hand and wrist? We are sure, everyone might have at some point or the other experienced that unusual sensation. Carpal Tunnel pain is a common neurological disorder that leads to numbness, tingling, and weakness in the hand and wrist. It is mostly caused when the median nerve gets compressed because of inflammation caused by constriction in the narrow passageway between the bones and ligaments on the underside of the wrist. This condition is most common in women, especially pregnant women. While there are numerous drugs and exercise available to treat this condition, but acupuncture can also be effective to treat this condition.

How acupuncture helps

Earlier it was believed that acupuncture can only help in mild pain, but various researches carried out in this regard proves that it can even help in chronic pain like carpal tunnel syndrome.

As per a study published in the journal Brain, acupuncture helped reduce symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome by “remapping” the brain. The research also says that the therapy also provides healing effects at the source of the pain in the wrists.

The study
The study was conducted on 80 people with an average age group of 45. The volunteers were divided into three groups. The first group was treated with verum electro-acupuncture on the wrist. The second group with acupuncture therapy in the ankle and the third was provided with sham acupuncture for three months. In the end, it was found that all three groups reported some relief, but two groups that got acupuncture also showed some physiological changes.

This was not the first study that revealed that acupuncture can help in carpal tunnel pain. Studies conducted earlier in this regard suggested the same.

The bottom line
Acupuncture can be a great alternative therapy to treat any kind of chronic pain ailment. This therapy is even recommended in several guidelines for various chronic pain conditions. One of the benefits of acupuncture is that it is minimally invasive and has a low-risk profile.