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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

People suffering from Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) develop progressively increasing finger stiffness in the morning, their grip weakens, and they experience crippling pain in their hands and wrists.

CTS is usually thought to result from long-term repetitive motions of the hands and wrists. A few years back it was most often seen in factory workers, secretaries, and supermarket cashiers whose jobs required them to repeat the same hand and wrist motion hundreds of times each day. However with the widespread use of personal computers, the incidence of carpal tunnel has spread across all professions.

Splinting, rest, anti-inflammatory drugs and frequently surgery are the treatments most often recommended by conventional physicians. However although these treatments relieve the pressure and may eliminate the symptoms, they do not treat the cause of CTS.

Repetitive motion is not the only culprit when it comes to CTS. Women who are either pregnant or taking oral contraceptives, and also diabetics all have a higher than average incidence of CTS. All three groups also have an increased requirement for vitamin B6.

It was this connection, made more than 20 years ago, that led John Ellis, M.D., of Mount Pleasant, Texas, to conduct several well controlled studies to show that severe B-6 deficiency causes CTS. Repetitive movement, however, may aggravate the condition.

Vitamin B6 is now the most frequently used and well-known nutritional treatment for CTS. However, vitamin B-6 is not an overnight cure. Studies show that CTS will improve after taking 100mg of B6 twice each day for two to three months.

As people are rarely deficient in only one nutrient, a combination of B-2 and B-6 has been found to be the most effective. Taking 50 mg of B-2 each day has been found to be an effective dose.