Listen or Read Dr. Michael McClung’s Monthly Podcast Interview!
Topic – Carpal Tunnel
Below you will find an easy to read transcript of Dr. Michael McClung’s interview on the razorcast™ monthly podcast. You can click the video to listen to the podcast or read the easy to follow transcript below. Enjoy!
Podcast Interview:
RC: Hello everyone, this is Liz Harvey coming to you from our razorcast™ studios in New York City where we are dedicated to bringing you cutting edge interviews from many of the leading industry professionals across the United States.
In today’s episode, we are speaking with Dr. Michael McClung. Dr. McClung is the founder of Creating Wellness Chiropractic in Austin, Texas where he is committed to improving the health and vitality of his community through chiropractic and wellness care. Dr. McClung was one of the first chiropractors in America to become board certified by the American Academy of Pain Management. He also has advanced certifications in Whiplash and Brain Traumatology from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego and Motor Vehicle Crash Forensic Risk Analysis. During his career, Dr. McClung has served as the President of the Central Texas Region of the Texas Chiropractic Association, as well as, the President of the Travis County Chiropractic Society.
Dr. Michael McClung is widely considered to be one of the top Chiropractors specializing in holistic and alternative health in the country and he is also a contributing member of our national network of industry professionals.
Today we are going to talk about a very important topic:
Carpal Tunnel
RC: Hi Dr. McClung, how are you today?
Dr. Michael McClung: I’m doing great!
RC: Great, thanks for being with us.
Question 1: Many people have heard of carpal tunnel syndrome but can you tell us where it gets its name?
RC: So, many people have heard of carpal tunnel syndrome but can you tell us where it gets its name?
Dr. Michael McClung: You know it’s like most medical conditions. Its name comes from Greek words and the bones in the wrist are called carpal bones and one of the bones has a little cut out section in it and that’s where this median nerve runs through and then there’s a ligament that sits on top and holds it down. So when that nerve gets pinched or irritated, it swells up and it hurts. So that’s where the name came from.
Question 2: What sort of discomfort does Carpal Tunnel Syndrome cause?
RC: Great and what sort of discomfort does carpal tunnel syndrome cause?
Dr. Michael McClung: It ranges from annoying to I can’t even write a check, I can’t even sign my signature, I can’t use the computer, I can’t sleep at night. Those can be really bad cases.
Question 3: What are the main causes of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
RC: Okay and what are the main causes of carpal tunnel syndrome?
Dr. Michael McClung: I think the number one cause that I see are people that sit at keyboards all day long, constant keyboarding. And especially if you have poor posture and you’ve got your keyboard in an unusual position. The keyboard should be even with your elbow, your elbow should be hanging from your shoulders. It should all be a fairly natural thing. None of us sit at a desk like we should. We kind of over time begin to get a little sloppy in our posture. So it’s mostly overuse. We saw one this morning that she was hiking on a trail and she fell and she put her wrist out. That’s a pretty common one.
Question 4: How does chiropractic care help treat carpal tunnel?
RC: Okay and how does chiropractic care help treat carpal tunnel?
Dr. Michael McClung: Yeah I guess on the outside it seems funny that a chiropractor would even treat carpal tunnel but there’s two major things that we do. The first is to make sure that there is no damage to the bone. We take an x-ray, make sure there’s no fracture or anything unusual. Then we check the neck to make sure that this is not coming from a pinched nerve in the neck radiating down to the wrist which is quite a common thing and it fools many doctors because they think it’s carpal tunnel but it’s really a neck problem. And so we have to figure out which one it really is and in a lot of cases it is both.
So one of the ways we treat that is we use a cold laser. Cold laser is pretty new stuff. We’ve done it now about five years and we shoot that into the joint and it gets the swelling out of the joint. Its effect is much like a steroid shot but of course without the needle or the drugs. And we’ve seen some amazing cases. In the five years we’ve done cold laser on these carpal tunnels, we have not had a single surgery. So pretty bizarre.
Question 5: What can people do to prevent getting carpal tunnel?
RC: Wow that’s great and so what can people do to prevent getting carpal tunnel?
Dr. Michael McClung: Just realize that it’s an overuse syndrome so whenever you do things over and over and over like keyboard, get up and take a break. Shake your wrist out. Pay attention to your posture at your keyboard. What you don’t want to do is to have your wrist cocked up. You want the arm and the wrist to be continuing in a straight even line that takes the pressure off the nerve. One of the ways you check to see if you do have carpal tunnel problems is you flex your wrist back and if it hurts, you probably have an inflamed nerve in there and it’s probably going to be carpal tunnel if you don’t deal with it.
RC: Okay well thank you so much Dr. McClung I know you are extremely busy so I just want to thank you for all your time today.
Dr. Michael McClung: Well sure, I enjoyed it. This is a serious problem and it’s a quite common problem and it effects women four times as often as men. I just learned this this morning. There are certain medications that can actually aggravate this. If a female is on contraceptives, it tends to make them retain more water and they’re more apt to have problems in the wrist. So just other little things that you never really think about. Obesity is a risk factor so keep that in check. Just stay healthy and if you have any issues, see your chiropractor. More importantly, see me! So thanks Liz!
RC: Well thank you and thanks for that extra helpful information. And for our listeners across the country, if you are interested in speaking with Dr. Michael McClung, you can either go online at www.northwestaustinchiropractor.com or call (512) 250-2225 to schedule an appointment.
On behalf of our entire team at razorcast™, we want to thank you for listening and we look forward to bringing you more top quality content from our country’s leading industry professionals.
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