Get in touch

555-555-5555

mymail@mailservice.com

How to Stop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

From Dr. Z - Carpal tunnel syndrome specialist

How to Stop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Here's how to stop carpal tunnel syndrome in its tracks. It's a 5-step formula that absolutely works when properly followed. And it's not complicated or time-consuming!

First look at what you're doing that stresses your hand (working or playing) and avoid or curtail that activity.
Rest your hand periodically when working.
Wear a night brace while you sleep.
Twice a day, perform a myofascial release massage on your wrist area.
Perform finger and hand stretching exercises 3-4 times a day.

That's it!

Mild to moderate symptoms will be gone in 3-6 weeks. More severe symptoms will take a bit longer, depending on how long you've had them. (The longer you've had symptoms, the longer it takes for them to disappear.)

Remember, the number one contributor to getting carpal tunnel syndrome is your occupation. So once you've identified what's causing the problem, take measures to discontinue or at least modify the activity.

For instance, truck drivers are prone to getting carpal tunnel. So if you drive for a living, at the first sign of your hands going numb, get driving gloves and a padded steering wheel cover.

Then you need to prevent carpal tunnel from ever coming back. (What good will it be to stop carpal tunnel only to have it return?) In fact, about 40% of carpal tunnel sufferers see symptoms come and go in their lifetime. That's because they stop symptoms effectively, but then re-injure their hands.

Therefore, once you stop carpal tunnel, you have to prevent it from returning. And any good carpal tunnel prevention program requires that you realize what caused the disorder in the first place.

FIND OUT: do you have carpal tunnel? No strings attached self-test.

Carpal tunnel is a type of hand injury

Most people know that carpal tunnel syndrome causes hand or finger pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness. These are the initial signs most people see as the condition begins to take effect.

The disorder can appear for many reasons. But by far, the most common reason is due to repetitively stressing your hand and fingers. This is why some doctors categorize carpal tunnel syndrome as a type of repetitive stress injury.

A repetitive stress injury means damage is produced by rapid and forceful movements with your hand and fingers. It occurs because over-stressing fingers and hands causes the tendons to inflame and swell. (These tendons are responsible for curling your fingers.) So obviously, any forceful grip-and-release motion (for example) will produce a stress injury to these tendons.

At first, the symptoms only bother you at night while you're trying to sleep. By the time symptoms are a problem during the day, the condition has already advanced. Now you must take special actions to get rid of it because it will almost certainly worsen. Therefore, knowing how to stop carpal tunnel starts by knowing how to prevent if from happening again.

What are the symptoms?

As the tendons in the wrist joint get more and more stressed, they start to swell. As they do, they push on the median nerve lying adjacent to them.

This results in an irritated nerve. And that irritation is what produces all of the signs and symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. These include finger and hand:

pain
numbness
tingling (pins & needles)
burning
soreness
weakness
shooting electric shocks

Most of these sensations are on the palm side of in the hand and fingers – especially the thumb (see image below). Symptoms can come and go, or be constant. In time, symptoms usually reach the severe stage. At that point it's even more difficult to treat the condition.

Who gets carpal tunnel syndrome?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is commonly regarded as an occupational disorder. That means a person's job is the likely culprit in causing the hand injury.

Essentially, your job dictates how you use your hands. If it involves a lot of forceful and repetitive movements, especially rapid grip-and-release activity, then you’re at high risk for getting carpal tunnel syndrome.

We also know from numerous medical studies that people who spend a lot of time using a mouse and keyboard are likely to suffer from carpal tunnel. Also at risk are workers in occupations like:

As a general rule, if you make multiple and forceful hand movements for more than 6 hours a day, you're nearly 4 times more likely to get this disorder. Read below for the steps to stop carpal tunnel before it worsens.

Here's how to stop carpal tunnel Right Now

Every doctor will tell you that the MOST important step in stopping carpal tunnel is to AVOID what's causing it. In fact, if you're just starting to see the first signs of this disorder, avoiding the repetitive hand activity will most likely stop symptoms completely.

This fact is so important that the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends avoidance as the first step in carpal tunnel prevention.

Once you've identified the cause of the condition, you can then treat the symptoms using the methods outlined below. They are:

rest
exercises
bracing
massage

But again, identify the cause first. If you go back and re-stress you hand after treating, you'll just start the cycle all over again.

Identifying high risk activities

Before even thinking of how to stop carpal tunnel you absolutely MUST identify the high risk activities you perform with your hand. For example:

Do you type a lot, use power equipment, grip files or use tools that require twisting?
Does anything else require you to make forceful and frequent hand or finger moments?
Does your job require making rapid grip and release movements?
Do your hands lift heavy objects often?
Are you hands exposed to cold temperatures or vibration equipment?

Take immediate action to reduce or even eliminate those activities right now. For instance, when typing, you can use hand rests. When working with tools, use warm and well-fitting gloves as cushions.

When doing anything else, make sure to pay close attention to the position of each hand as you work. Are they bending for a long time? At the workstation, is your posture comfortable or does it stress your arm and hand joints? If so, adjust the chair, mouse, keyboard, monitor height, etc. Watch yourself and maintain good posture; don't strain to make difficult movements on the mouse and keyboard. (Read these important tips about good posture.)

Rest

If you can't avoid making high risk movements with you hands, the next best thing is REST. Resting the hands and fingers is one of best things anyone can do for carpal tunnel prevention.

While your hand is working, take as many "mini-rest breaks" as possible. The recommended rest period is just 30 seconds every 30 minutes you work.

During the rest period, stretch both hands and fingers well (see below). Then let both hands dangle and shake them out vigorously. That increases blood flow and reduces tendon inflammation.

Carpal tunnel stretching exercises

Carpal tunnel exercises can stop carpal tunnel in its tracks. The proper exercises are powerful tools against this disorder because they target the flexor tendons. See how to perform these exercises here.

Stretching exercises in particular are crucial. They drain excess fluid and also lubricate tendons. This allows tendons to glide smoothly without binding. It's that binding that causes inflammation and swelling - and ultimately carpal tunnel syndrome.

The most effective carpal tunnel exercises will focus on the tendons in multiple steps. They will stretch the fingers first, followed by the wrist and then the forearm. This sequence exposes the entire tendon's length to the stretching forces.

Best of all, these stretching exercises only take 30-60 seconds to complete. You need to do them 3-4 times per day. But they're quick. So doing them on the job won't interfere with your work. Yet they're one of the best ways to stop carpal tunnel quickly.

Night bracing

This remedy is something doctors call a "no brainer". Basically you put a carpal tunnel wrist brace on and then go to sleep. What can be easier?

After a few weeks of night bracing, symptoms almost always begin to dissolve. The reason is because seeping is actually harmful for our wrists. When we sleep we unconsciously bend our hands backward. That's very bad if you already have carpal tunnel syndrome.

But a night brace keeps your hand relatively straight, in the "neutral position". This prevents over-bending. But only a certified night brace will work. The braces you commonly see at CVS, Walmart, Walgreens, etc. might say "for carpal tunnel syndrome", but that's false advertising. They're not.

How can you tell? If the brace has a palmar spine then it's NOT a certified carpal tunnel night brace. In fact, wearing it will do more harm to your wrist joint. The best carpal tunnel braces will not have that spine. They will give your hand support with a stiffener that's not located on the palmar surface.

And NEVER wear a wrist brace while working. Doing so will make your hand and wrist fight against the brace as your hand performs its regular activity, further stressing the joint.

Myofascial release massage

Massage is the oldest and most useful therapy mankind has developed. And it's also how to stop carpal tunnel most effectively. Massage is simply the most powerful tool you can use to make symptoms disappear forever.

It's also the preferred method of treatment during pregnancy. That's becasue massage is safe to use.

Specifically, a technique called myofascial release massage is best. Physical therapists and massage therapists routinely treat carpal tunnel patients with this method. Why? Because it directly reduces inflammation and drains excess fluid from your tendons.

When properly executed, myofascial release massage is highly effective in stopping even severe pain and numbness.

Note: This massage cannot be done on yourself. You need two hands to do it properly. It must also be applied for at least 4 weeks to see carpal tunnel symptoms disappear completely.

Conclusion

If you want to know how to stop carpal tunnel syndrome, start by identifying what injured your hand in the first place. Then begin the proper therapy program of rest, exercise, bracing and message. These ar proven methods of eliminating symptoms and keeping them from returning.