Sadly, this isn't unique to neurology. Many years ago, I developed really bad hand pain. To the point that I couldn't type (I had to take unpaid leave from work), couldn't hold a glass of water without pain, couldn't easily steer my car without pain, etc.

I don't want to bash medical doctors, because there are a lot of things that they do really well, and that there aren't other cures for. If you get in a car accident and need immediate, life-saving surgery and/or organ transplants, nobody can replace those doctors.

But for my problem - they were literally useless. One that I saw spent five minutes with me and told me that I had the beginnings of carpal tunnel. Luckily, I asked for a referral to see a physical therapist (her response was, "sure, couldn't hurt I guess") - who very quickly ascertained that it was NOT carpal tunnel at all, but she wasn't sure what it was. It took me almost a year of chiropractic, plus massage therapy (including self massage and stretching) to get rid of the problem. It was insane - because it felt like it was something that modern medicine just didn't know what to do with.

The massage therapist that I had at the time (who was amazing!) told me that she often saw people misdiagnosed with carpal tunnel, including someone who was going to get surgery for it. Same thing - I don't mean to knock the surgery (I think there were folks here who had it, and found it helpful) - but if that's not the actual problem, then the surgery is not going to fix it, and carries all kinds of risks.

It's so frustrating, and I don't know what the answer is. To this day, if I mention my experience to an MD-doctor, they seem *dubious*, because they don't think chiropractors have anything to offer. Yet, I saw TWO MDs, and neither had a clue about what was happening to me at the time.

I wish there was something we could do, but I don't know what. Some of it surely politics/money (in the big sense, not in any specific sense - i.e. groups trying to protect their own interests).

It's all crazy-making. There has to be a better way!