The importance of the recovery treatment in increasing the quality of the lives of the patients with the carpal tunnel syndrome

• Main Authors: Sinziana Calina Silisteanu, Elisabeta Antonescu, Valerica Moisii
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Romanian Association of Balneology, Editura Balneara 2016-09-01
• Series: Balneo Research Journal
• Subjects: the Carpal tunnel syndrome; disability; the quality of life
• Online Access: http://bioclima.ro/Balneo124.pdf

The hand is a very important segment in gestures, functionality and the achievement of ADL. The Carpal tunnel syndrome was described for the first time by Paget in 1854 , being a very frequent health condition of the extremity in the upper limb caused by the compression of the median nerve at the level of the fibre bone tunnel at the level of the hand wrist. The incidence of the Carpal tunnel syndrome is approximately 0.125% - 1% /year, having a prevalence of 5-15%. Among the patients diagnosed with the Carpal tunnel syndrome, 80% are over 40 years old, the women being more affected than the men. The Carpal tunnel syndrome is a disability issue with social and economic consequences, being a burden for the society. The recovery is conservative and it consists of immobilisation by orthesis at the hand level, crio-therapy, kinetic therapy, electric therapy (laser, ultrasound, low and average frequency electrical power) or by surgical intervention. This study tries to point out if it is possible to influence the quality of life and the individuals' level of functional independence by applying therapeutic protocols specific to this health condition. The patients diagnosed with the Carpal tunnel syndrome received a complex treatment which included electric therapy (of low and average frequency, TENS, laser and ultrasound), massage for the upper limb and kinetic therapy, with a length of 15 days, then the patients were called for the checkup 30 days later. It is important to set clear objectives for the recovery programmes and to create optimised treatment schemes. They confirm the hypothesis based on which the research was conducted. Therefore, any health condition for this segment may influence the quality of patients' life, with involvement in the achievement of the daily activities and the social professional insertion.