ealth eat
Dr. Spitzer invented
a glove for
CTS sufferers.
Pad
cross section —
path of the
median nerve
cross section
Photo by Glenn Triest
pad
wrist bones
US pat. # 5,031,640
A. Robert Spitzer, MD
Patently Therapeutic
r. Robert Spitzer was bike
)
riding through West
Bloomfield when he
came up with a gripping
medical possibility.
Pedaling down neigh-
borhood streets, the
38-year-old neurologist felt
his fingers begin tingling, then
go numb. It wasn't difficult for
Dr. Spitzer to arrive at a diag-
nosis: Carpal Tunnel Syn-
drome, a neurological disorder
impairing normal functioning
of the hand.
Determined to invent some-
thing to solve his problem, Dr.
Spitzer patented a padded glove
that serves to cushion the hand
against stress, thus preventing
many cases of CTS. The glove
has garnered good reviews from
many Big Three auto workers
who suffer from the syndrome.
"I think if people wore these
gloves during sports or on jobs
with activities that cause CTS,
we could get rid of 25 to 30 per-
cent of the cases," Dr. Spitzer
said.
CTS affects millions of Amer-
Gloves get a
handle on Carpal
Tunnel Syndrome.
L.1-1
RUTH LITTMAN,'
c) STAFF WRITER
36
icans each year. Hundreds of
thousands of people who file
workers compensation com-
plaints say they developed CTS
on the job.
The disorder generally aris-
es from two types of activities:
those that involve rapid finger
movements, like typing, and
those that put external pressure
on the hand, like shoveling. Dr.
Spitzer's padded glove is de-
signed to help people whose
CTS is caused by the latter type
of activity.
Pressure on the hand (as well
as rapid finger movements)
often cause fluid to accumulate
in the "tunnel" — an area be-
tween the base of the palm and
the back of the wrist (see dia-
gram).
Fluid build-up puts pressure
on the median nerve, which pro-
vides the hand with sensory
and motor capabilities. The me-
dian nerve extends from the
arm, through the "tunnel," then
branches out to the fingers.
When impaired, the median
nerve can cause pain and
numbness. CTS sufferers often
complain about a weak grip. In
severe cases, permanent hand
damage can result.
Manual laborers who engage
in excessive digging, lifting or
power tool use constitute a large
proportion of CTS sufferers.
Many athletes, particularly
weight lifters, baseball players
and cyclists, also complain of
CTS.
Dr. Spitzer's padded glove,
which retails at S35, consists of
a fingerless leather and nylon
hand garment stuffed, in strate-
gic places, with a layer of spe-
cial rubber. The stuffing, which
extends around the circumfer-
ence of the palm, forms a groove
along the length of the median
nerve.
When people wearing the
glove grip onto something, they
apply pressure to the fleshy
parts of their hands, not to the
area above the median nerve.
Since marketing his inven-
tion, Dr. Spitzer has received
positive responses from many
CTS sufferers. A termite exter-
minator who drills on the job
wrote: "Since you sent me these
gloves, I have used them every
time I drill and have had no
problems with my hands."
Dr. Spitzer serves on the
medical staff at William
Beaumont Hospital while work-
ing on other inventions. He re-
cently has been noted in
medical journals for advance-
ments in neurological research
using computers to analyze
brain signals, as well as math-
ematical models of neural net-
works, which help scientists
understand how the brain
works.
The native New Yorker and
Albert Einstein School of
Medicine graduate says Ju-
daism helps him keep a firm
grasp on all his endeavors: "Be-
ing Jewish, I always have to ad-
vance in my studies and
understanding. I can't just
punch a time clock or view my
job as rote and everyday. I think
that's part of the Jewish ap-
proach — to go beyond what's
known." 11