Close your eyes and imagine permanently eliminating all of the pain and numbness of carpal tunnel syndrome. How to treat this condition without hand surgery is one of the most searched topics on the web.

In this article, I'll show you which treatments work best -- and which are a waste of time.

Did you know over 5 million Americans suffer with carpal tunnel syndrome, just like you? Did you also know that MOST people treat it effectively without surgery?

The key to success is using the proper therapy.

In fact, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons actually recommends using such therapies before you consider hand surgery.

This article explains the 7 most effective non-surgical treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome. They're recommended by doctors, therapists, scientists, and chiropractors every single day. Best of all, these treatments are designed to relieve carpal tunnel symptoms completely and permanently.

The underlying reason you get carpal tunnel syndrome is tendon swelling. Certain conditions known as risk factors are associated with developing carpal tunnel syndrome. The primary risk factors are:

• Having a high-risk occupation (see next section)
• Family history
• Small body frame
• Pregnancy
• Being female
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Over 60 years old
• Diabetes
• Obesity
  
• Emotional stress
  

The NIH, CDC, and the American College of Orthopedic Surgeons fully agree about one fact. That is, the main risk factor for getting carpal tunnel syndrome is repetitive stress of the fingers and hand. This occurs mostly while performing daily tasks (like in your occupation).

This repetitive stress can result from any one of these hand activities:

• Constantly griping tools
• Performing frequent grip-and-released actions
• Maintaining a pinching position
• Keeping your wrist bent
• Using vibrating equipment

The repetitive stress results in tendon inflammation. This disorganizes the tissue around the flexor tendons.. Adhesions and restrictions then form, preventing tendons from moving smoothly. This causes even more irritation and inflammation - and the cycle continues.

Eventually, the inflammation results in massive swelling around the flexor tendons inside the wrist. And it's that swelling which compresses the adjacent median nerve.

The CDC and NIH have identified jobs closely associated with getting carpal tunnel syndrome. In most instances these jobs or industries have more than 6 times the average reported cases of carpal tunnel in the general population. These jobs are:

• Transcriptionists
• Truck drivers
• Hairdressers
• Dental hygienists
• Musicians
• Graphic designers
• Housekeepers and janitors
• Sewers and knitters
• Radiologists
• Farmers
• Fine artists
• Assembly line workers
• Data-entry clerks
• Horse riders or trainers

By far, most people treat carpal tunnel syndrome using non-surgical remedies. Each year, over 8 million people are diagnosed with this disorder. But only 500,000 of these people have carpal tunnel surgery. That means over 16 times more people don't have surgery!

So what are they doing to relieve symptoms?

About 46% of these people see their symptoms resolve simply by resting and being careful to avoid stress with their hands. The remainder use the non-surgical treatments listed below. (These are also referred to as conservative or non-operative treatments.)

As mentioned above, the American College of Orthopedic Surgeons and the NIH recommend using non-surgical treatments before discussing surgery with your doctor. This recommendation is due to 2 reasons:

• Non-surgical treatments work for most patients
• The failure rate of carpal tunnel release surgery is about 50%, even after several years from the surgery

The 7 non-surgical carpal tunnel treatments used by most patients to successfully treat carpal tunnel are listed below. If symptoms are severe, you may want to choose to use two or more treatments simultaneously.

The internet is full of products that claim to "cure" carpal tunnel syndrome. In reality, carpal tunnel syndrome is more like a disease, with no cure whatsoever -  not even surgery. It means you have carpal tunnel syndrome for life. But you can manage symptoms so effectively they never bother you again.

Therefore, the goal of any treatment (including surgery) is to keep symptoms under control so they don't come back. And the most successful treatments aim to control your carpal tunnel for the long-term: by attacking the underlying cause (tendon irritation and inflammation).

The goal of any legitimate carpal tunnel treatment (including surgery) is to keep symptoms under control so they don't come back. But many more products are designed to take your money instead. Slick advertising and paid testimonials cannot get around the fact they simply don't work. So don't be fooled by these remedies:

• Adhesive tapes: Using any adhesive tape on your hand merely produces a placebo effect. Doctors and scientists don't even entertain testing them clinically.

• Drugstore braces: Even though the package says "for carpal tunnel syndrome", it's not. These braces have a palmar spine (like the picture above) which will make your condition much worse. Instead, use a certified carpal tunnel brace (see below).
  
  
• Vibration massagers: There is a trend toward using vibration or percussion massagers to relieve pain in various body parts. But vibration of any kind is very harmful if you have carpal tunnel syndrome.

• Copper infused products: Copper has no more therapeutic value than dried frogs. It's equivalent to voodoo and has no effect on carpal tunnel syndrome.

• Magnet therapy: The NIH says applying magnets around the hand simply doesn't work.

• Compression gloves: Any compression to the hand and wrist will increase pressure on the (already compressed) median nerve. So with compression gloves, your carpal tunnel symptoms will only worsen.

• Long-term use of drugs: Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) like Advil, Naproxen, Aleve, Tylenol and Motrin are fine for short term pain relief. But using them every day for more than 2 weeks is dangerous to your heart, kidney, and liver.

• Homeopathic remedies & herbals: All homeopathy -- without exception -- is a scam, pure and simple. The FDA is now threatening their existence altogether. Herbal supplements also have a popular following, but no evidence exists for their therapeutic value against carpal tunnel syndrome.

• Laser therapy, ultrasound, and vitamins: These are grouped together because they're commonly used therapies. But there are only anecdotal reports they help relieve carpal tunnel symptoms.

• Ice baths: Ice baths actually are effective for relieving pain. Unfortunately, the pain relief is temporary. A short time after removing your hand from the ice bath, the carpal tunnel symptoms return. This is not a long-term solution.

Never underestimate the power of rest. If you give your fingers and hand a break from the stressful activity, chances are your symptoms will dissolve on their own. This is especially the case if symptoms are still mild and not severe.

Resting your hand and not performing the stressful activity for a time will allow your tissues to heal. Remember, you get carpal tunnel syndrome because your tendons are stressed. This causes adhesions to form between them. The adhesions cause inflammation and swelling.

Rest gives your body the opportunity to remove the adhesions and heal naturally. It usually takes 2-4 weeks, depending on your severity.

Success statistics

• It's estimated that 28-60% of patient will spontaneously recover with only rest and avoidance.
• Recovery is most pronounced when carpal tunnel symptoms are still mild.
  

Over-the-counter pain medicines (called NSAIDs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are a common remedy for carpal tunnel symptoms. These drugs include Advil, Tylenol, Naproxen, and Motrin. (They do not effectively relieve tingling, numbness, or weakness.)

NSAIDs are effective for only short term pain relief.

NSAIDs work by reducing swelling and inflammation. This, then eliminates compression on the median nerve and reduces pain. There are 2 main downsides of using these drugs:

• They provide only temporary pain relief. Once the drug wears off in a few hours, pain returns.
• Long term daily use of NSAIDs can pose significant risks to your health. The FDA issued warnings that these risks include liver and kidney damage with long-term use (more than a few weeks of continuous use).
  
  

It should be noted that recent statistics (January 2023) show that nearly one-third of people with chronic pain treat with cannabis. But how it relates to reducing carpal tunnel syndrome pain is unknown.

Success statistics

• NSAIDs have a 10 - 79% pain relief success rate. However, they should not be used daily for more than 2 weeks. Thus, they're not a good solution to treat carpal tunnel syndrome.
  

When patient asks how to treat carpal tunnel syndrome, the usual answer a doctor gives is, "Wear a night brace". This treatment is one of the easiest to do, and it's actually very effective for mild to moderate symptoms.

Nocturnal bracing is effective because it maintains your hand in the neutral position (i.e., straight). That means you are unable to hyper-bend your wrist, which is something every human being does unconsciously during sleep.

Hyper-bending (especially backward or extension) exerts extreme pressure inside the carpal tunnel space. This, then adds even more compression to the median nerve. A wrist brace prevents this bending.

However, most wrist braces sold in drug stores (CVE, Walgreen's, Rite Aid, Walmart, etc.) are not appropriate for use with carpal tunnel syndrome. That's because they contain a metal palmar spine. When you unconsciously bend your hand backward, the spine resists bending. But the palmar spine also gets forced into your wrist joint, thereby increasing pressure below.

This is why most most carpal tunnel patients who wear such braces wake up with even worse symptoms.

Therefore, only a "certified" carpal tunnel night brace will help relieve symptoms. They do not contain a palmar spine.

Success statistics

• Night bracing is 50 - 95% effective for mild to moderate symptoms in 3-6 months.
• Bracing alone is not effective for severe symptoms.

Perhaps no other therapy is so overlooked than simple finger stretches to treat carpal tunnel syndrome. When properly performed, these stretching exercises target your flexor tendons (those which cause carpal tunnel).

In time, stretching the flexor tendons loosens adhesions and restrictions around them. As a result, the tendons are no longer irritated. Swelling diminishes and symptoms dissolve.

There are 4 powerful and distinct stretching exercises proven to work for carpal tunnel syndrome:

• Stop stretch
• Finger interlace stretch
• Prayer stretch
• Thumb stretch

When performed every 2-4 hours (depending on your severity) symptoms will disappear in about a month. Crucially, combining these 4 exercises with one or more non-surgical treatments will dissolve symptoms faster.

Success statistics

• Nearly half of patients see symptoms severity cut in half by 3 months.
• About 93% of patients see "good" or "excellent" results by 8 months.
  

This treatment is used for carpal tunnel syndrome by almost every therapist and chiropractor. The treatment is called myofascial release massage.

The secret of this technique is the unique way it relieves carpal tunnel syndrome. How? To treat a patient using this method, the practitioner produces a kneading motion over their wrist and forearm. The twisting and pushing/pulling transmits below the skin to the flexor tendons. As a result, it breaks adhesions and loosens restrictions between the tendons.

The outcome is less irritated, inflamed, and swollen tendons. Generally the patient sees symptoms resolve in as little as 4 weeks.

NOTE: This treatment is the only one which targets the underlying cause of the problem: removal of tendon adhesions.

Myofascial release massage is highly effective for carpal tunnel relief. However, the downside is that it cannot be performed on yourself very easily. Also, it must be performed daily for at least 3-6 weeks (depending on how severe your symptoms). Finally, massage therapists (for instance) charge $20 - $60 per 30 minute session.

Success statistics

• Success depends on the practitioner. Some practitioners see 80 - 90% success, while others see over 90% success. Myofascial release using the CarpalRx (which is an automated myofascial release device) has a 97% success rate in patients with moderate to severe symptoms.

Fore decades carpal tunnel syndrome patients have been raving about the benefits of yoga in relieving symptoms. And for a long time, these were merely anecdotal reports.

But over the years, several clinical trials have proven those reports correct. Again and again, they show yoga's effectiveness against carpal tunnel syndrome.

No one is certain why yoga works like it does. Perhaps stretching relieves compression in the carpal tunnel space. It also may improve circulation in the wrist.

The downside of yoga for carpal tunnel syndrome is that it must be performed on a continual basis. In other words, you must incorporate it into your daily life. Soma practitioners recommend twice daily yoga exercises to maintain symptoms relief.

Success statistics

• Yoga increases grip strength and more than halves pain level in carpal tunnel patients at 10-12 weeks.
• At 8 weeks, yoga is superior to bracing for reducing waking up at night and overall patient satisfaction.

A huge medical problem exists: carpal tunnel syndrome. How to treat it has become a hot topic in modern medicine. Surgery is one way to treat this disorder. But there are 7 effective non-surgical treatments often recommended to patients. They nearly always provide the same success as surgery, and in most instances, even better results. These treatments are rest & avoidance, pain medicines, night bracing, steroid injection, stretching exercises, myofascial release massage, and yoga.