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Mr. Wu is an interior designer and has to use the computer for a long time. In recent months, he has suffered from numbness of the second and third fingers, pain in the forearm, tight upper shoulder, pulling pain in the upper back, and a little headache. After receiving cervical spine manipulation and physical therapy many times, he did not get better.
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Mr. Wu, who sought medical treatment several times, was later referred to the author’s clinic for an MRI examination. Although the cervical spine had degeneration and a little cervical disc herniation, they were not too serious and did not seem to cause him various symptoms.
After further detailed examination, it was found that the soft tissue around the fourth section of the thoracic spine was extremely sensitive. Especially when pressing on the spine, he developed scattered pain in the hands, so he was diagnosed with T4 syndrome. After the fifth treatments, the patient’s sore hands and numbness have been greatly improved.
Symptoms of T4 syndrome:
Most of the symptoms of T4 syndrome appear on one side of the back and hands, but there are also some cases that are distributed on both hands. The discomforts caused include:
- Pain in the upper and lower arms.
- Numbness of upper shoulder, lower arm and palm.
- Pain in upper back muscles and joints.
- May have slight neck pain.
- Radiation pain is distributed on the shoulders, ribs and front chest.
- The fourth vertebrae of the upper back thoracic spine is tight.
- Headache.
Various symptoms are usually more serious at night, usually turning around, holding heavy objects, stretching the upper back, bending backwards or forwards, sitting for a long time, driving, even laughing, coughing, sneezing or deep breathing. Sometimes, there will be pain or numbness in the upper back and hands.
Causes, diagnosis and treatment of T4 syndrome
Common factors that cause T4 syndrome:
- Use the computer for a long time or look down at the phone.
- Long-term posture errors, such as incorrect sitting posture.
- Lack of upper back muscles strength, lack of exercise to strengthen and stretch the back.
- Turn around or bending to lift heavy objects frequently.
The diagnosis of T4 syndrome cannot be diagnosis by X-ray or MRI alone. The patient must be consulted in detail, if necessary, spinal nerves, muscles and joints should be examined, and other causes such as nerve compression, thoracic spine tumors, heart and other systemic diseases should be excluded.
In terms of diagnosis and treatment, chiropractors will correct misaligned thoracic vertebrae with manual treatment, electrical stimulation or ultrasound to increase the blood circulation and relieve pain. This also helps to reduce inflammation, relax joints and tendons. At the same time, the chiropractor will guide the patient to do back stretching and strengthening exercises, and in addition to correcting the wrong posture, they will also suggest some correct postures to reduce muscle strain.
