Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful condition that affects millions of Americans. Many conservative treatments exist to treat this condition, including manipulative therapy, steroid injections and herbal remedies. Vitamin B-6 was once widely prescribed as a carpal tunnel syndrome treatment, although little research supports its therapeutic value.
Physiology of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a type of peripheral neuropathy occurring inside the carpal tunnel of the wrist. The carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway through which the median nerve, tendons and blood vessels pass from the arm into the hand. Under conditions not fully understood, flexor tendons can become inflamed and start to swell. The swelling tendons then exert pressure on the median nerve inside the carpal tunnel. As a result, the compressed median nerve causes sensations of pain, tingling, burning and numbness in the hand and fingers. Conservative treatment such as massage, chiropractic and physical therapy can alleviate the symptoms in most cases. Less often, and in more severe cases, surgery is needed to decompress the median nerve.
Physiology of Vitamin B-6
Vitamin B-6 is a water-soluble vitamin that naturally exists as three primary chemicals: pyridoxal, pyridoxine and pyridoxamine. It has many physiological functions throughout the body and is necessary to carry out over 100 enzyme reactions integral to making proteins, says the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. Vitamin B-6 also is needed to make neurotransmitters so that nerves can communicate. This vitamin also plays a role in certain nervous system disorders such Parkinson's disease, chronic pain and seizures.
Role in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
For the past several decades, vitamin B-6 was widely recommended to treat carpal tunnel syndrome. It was thought that the vitamin helped reduce tendon swelling and thus alleviated compression of the median nerve. Even today, many popular books and some doctors still say that vitamin B-6 doses of 100 to 200 mg per day can help alleviate symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Unfortunately, the NIH says that only scant evidence exists that vitamin B-6 can directly help patients suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. MayoClinic.com reports that evidence is more abundant that vitamin B-6 can indirectly help sufferers by raising pain thresholds, thereby making the pain of the condition more tolerable.
Sources and RDA
Vitamin B-6 can be found naturally in foods such as potatoes, bananas, garbanzo beans, chicken breast, pork, oats, trout, sunflower seeds and salmon. Fortified breakfast cereals are also a good source. Vitamin B-6 can also be obtained by taking dietary supplements. The recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, for vitamin B-6 is 1.3 mg for men and women between 19 and 50 years of age. For those older than 51, the RDA is 1.7 mg for men and 1.5 mg for women.
