stuart james beall

In 2024, Tonnette had a “MR cervical spine WO Contrast.” The images showed spondylosis resulting in mild bilateral foraminal stenosis. At the C6/C7 level, the imaging technician described the condition as moderate. The point of this is that we know what was causing her arm pain. It was nerve compression at C6/C7. She was able to overcome most of this pain by getting treated by a cervical chiropractor. This chiropractor focused on the alignment of the atlas and axis vertebrae.

About a month ago, Tonnette’s right thumb, her pointer, and middle fingers were in distress. She woke me up, complaining of pins and needles in her fingers. My presumptuous response was to work the muscles in her right shoulder, and sometimes doing myo-fascial release on her neck. Not helpful. I encouraged Tonnette to do more neck traction. Actually I spent over $300 for a neck traction device. Not helpful. If anybody wants to buy a gently-used neck traction device, please contact me.

We visited a sports medecine doctor in Boise, who recognized the finger pain and numbness as a classic symptom of a compressed medial nerve, also known as carpal tunnel syndrome. She injected a corticosteroid into Tonnette’s right wrist, expecting a reduction in pain. Not helpful. She also ordered an EMG (electromyography) test.

Meanwhile, I was sure this whole thing was rooted in Tonnette’s C6/C7 foraminal stenosis. The pain in her thumb and fingers fit the dermatome. I was wrong.

The stress of having a wife in distress led me to Google the internet for neuropathy treatments. I found a neuropathy clinic in Meridian that only used non-invasive techniques to treat neuropathy.

I am a proponent of red light therapy, having had positive experiences with it. Sandra Moore wrote a book detailing the scientific approach to near-infrared and red light therapy. It’s a great reference for beginners. However, not all red light therapy devices have a good cost-to-benefit ratio.

The neuropathy clinic I mentioned in Meridian did not suggest any applied stretches or physical therapy. They took advantage of my wallet and Tonnette’s pain symptoms, without getting to the root cause of her symptoms. They sold us this set of Neuropa Calm “boots” as part of their home treatment program, before we could complete the EMG test. They knew we had already scheduled the EMG test. It seems they wanted to make a quick sale, before we could get to the root cause of Tonnette’s symptoms.

There are three main causes of neuropathy, per the educational video we watched at the neuropathy clinic: 1- cancer, 2- diabetes, 3- surgery. Tonnette did not fit any of those categories. Still, we paid about $4500 for their home treatment. The “boots” shown above were supposedly worth $1000 each. When I asked about using my own red light devices instead of buying theirs, I was told that “some devices” are too weak to have a therapeutic value, while “these devices” have a plug-in power source. I was told “these devices” have to be prescribed by a doctor. Instead of objective answers, I got razzle dazzle.

If you’ve been around the block a few times, you learn that not everything prescribed by a doctor is better, stronger, or affordable. That applies to these Neuropa Calm “boots”.

There are affordable red light gloves available without any doctor prescription. So why do we have to adapt expensive red light devices clearly designed for feet, to Tonnette’s hands and wrists?

The EMG test showed clearly that Tonnette‘s pain was caused by a severely compressed median nerve. Getting surgery to release the nerve would take weeks or months. Meanwhile, Tonnette is still suffering. There are several stretches that can relieve carpal tunnel syndrome. We are also learning that cupping can temporarily the pain.