Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Diagnosis
Published on under Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
The subsequent examination will follow the course of the median nerve to determine if there is pressure on multiple sites. At this point, a doctor of chiropractic may have a fairly strong suspicion on what is causing the patient’s symptoms, and he or she can formulate a treatment recommendation.
However, if the case is complicated, the patient may be referred for more advanced testing—like electrodiagnostic testing—to confirm the diagnosis. Because these tests can be unpleasant and painful to the patient and there is up to a 34% possibility for a false positive, it may sometimes be more useful to inform a diagnosis rather than as the initial means to make a diagnosis. This was confirmed by a 2018 study that concluded that electrodiagnostic testing is not a reliable screening method for determining the severity of CTS.
During the course of care, patients may also be asked to complete short assessments, such as the Boston CTS Questionnaire (BCTSQ) that includes eleven questions (scored 1-5 for “normal” to “very severe”) for symptoms and eight questions for function (scored 1-5 for “no difficulty” to “cannot perform the activity at all due to hand and wrist symptoms”). Not only does this information help track a patient’s progress to determine if the treatment plan needs modification but it can be used to prove “medical necessity” to the patient’s insurance company.
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I will not use unnecessary long-term
treatment plans and/or therapies.”
To locate a Doctor of Chiropractic who has taken The ChiroTrust Pledge, google “The ChiroTrust Pledge” and the name of a town in quotes.
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