This article explains how you can treat carpal tunnel syndrome without surgery, so that symptoms never bother you again. There's a lot to digest here. But you'll understand what you need to get carpal tunnel under control.

Right now, you may have symptoms such as hand or finger pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness. Maybe symptoms are severe or even getting worse. So there's no better time to start treatment than right now. 

If you wait to do something about it, carpal tunnel syndrome will make your life miserable. Without treatment, it usually worsens with time. And it's common for symptoms to go from mild to severe in a matter of a few months. In fact, some people lose the ability to grip objects within 3 months of the condition's first warning signs. 

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

Within 6 months of it's first appearance, 80% of patients see symptoms on the other hand, too. This is called bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. Yes, having it in both hands is twice as bad as having it in one hand.

The progressive (and terrible) symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome are why you should confront it immediately. Doing so isn't complicated. But there are 4 key steps you must take that are outlined below. 

Did you know your chances of getting carpal tunnel? Most people who get it already have one of several risk factors associated with this condition. The problem is that most people didn't even know such risk factors. If they did, they could have avoided the misery very easily. The major risk factors are:

1. The most important risk factor for getting carpal tunnel is if you have a family history of the condition. That means if a sibling or parent had it, then you're at high risk.
   
   
2. Another risk factor is if you’re pregnant. That means you've tripled the chance of seeing symptoms appear. This is specially true in the third trimester.
   
   
3. One of the more common risk factors for developing carpal tunnel is if you engage in activities that involve rapid and forceful hand movements. Typical examples are people involved with typing & using a mouse at a computer keyboard, dental hygienists, guitar players,  hairdressers, riding or training horses, and assembly line workers.
   
   
4. Finally, you're also at high risk if you use power tools or vibrating equipment. This also might lead to vibration syndrome which is a completely different (and more serious) disorder than carpal tunnel syndrome.
   

The reason people develop carpal tunnel syndrome is mostly occupational. For example, your wrists might be incorrectly positioned at the keyboard. Or perhaps you hold a hairbrush or screwdriver in an odd position. These create detrimental forces deep inside your wrist joint.

When the detrimental forces accumulate over time, they irritate tendons. This is called cumulative trauma. As a result,  tendons become inflamed and start to swell. 

That swelling pushes against the median nerve deep inside the wrist joint. The nerve reacts badly to being pushed upon and crushed. That crushing is what causes the feelings of pain, numbness, tingling, burning, pins-and-needles, and puffiness. 

The following are the 4 Key Steps to reversing your carpal tunnel symptoms and restoring your hand. To get the best results you must do all of them simultaneously. 

There's no secret to any of this. It just takes dedication to using this know-how to treat carpal tunnel. Commit to using these 4 simple and effective measures, and stick to with them for 1-2 months. 

The first and most important Step for treating carpal tunnel is to identify the activity that’s straining your hand. 

In fact, I always advise high risk workers to take a good look at their occupation. Effective carpal tunnel prevention and treatment means identifying risky activities (like repetitive gripping motions) and avoiding them altogether. 

So whether you want to avoid symptoms or if you already have them, analyze your work activity. And specifically take measures to reduce stresses on your wrist tendons.  For instance:

• If you work at a computer for more than six hours per day, you must break up the keyboarding time with regular rest periods. Also pay attention to your wrists. The dangers of incorrect wrist positioning while sitting at a keyboard for long periods are very real. And look into using a special carpal tunnel keyboard and a wrist-rest. 
  

• If you use vibrating equipment, take measures to not hold the tool in a way that overly vibrates your hand. Also make sure you wear vibration-absorbing gloves. 
  
  
• Some common and innocent-looking tools can produce huge detrimental forces deep inside your wrist joint. For instance, gripping a hairbrush, guitar fret or screwdriver in an odd position can stress tendons enormously.

At it's core, carpal tunnel syndrome is an occupational disorder. There are thousands of occupations and innumerable ways to minimize the stresses on your hands while on the job. See what you can do to reduce them according to your specific occupation and its requirements.

Carpal tunnel avoidance and treatment measures are identical. But you spend less time on avoidance than treatment. 

Most people who ask how to treat carpal tunnel are unaware of the age-old saying: rest cures all ills. Rest is also the least expensive and one of the most effective ways to treat this disorder. 

Rest should be broken down into 2 phases:

Rest during the day

Activities involving holding, gripping, pinching, pushing and rotating the hand or fingers (especially at high speed) will fatigue wrist tendons quickly. Therefore, as you work, take simple, short rest periods for your hands. They don't have to take too much time! It's usually sufficient to stop every 10-15 minutes for a 30 second hand "shake-out". If you work on an assembly line for example, drop you hands and do a quick shake-out and stretch (see below). 

Resting at night

When you sleep, you must ensure you rest your hand and wrist joint properly. That means wearing a wrist brace (night brace) when you sleep. As we sleep, we unconsciously bend our hands forward and backward. That hyper-bending is very bad for the carpal tunnel space because it increases pressure inside. But a carpal tunnel brace keeps the wrist in the "neutral position". That's the best and most restful position for the hand. 

2 Warnings:

1. Not all wrist braces are certified carpal tunnel braces. That means they're approved by doctors for treating this condition. The wrist braces sold in pharmacies like CVS, Walmart, Walgreens, etc. are not certified carpal tunnel braces. (The package may say "good for carpal tunnel" but they're not.) Here's how to tell: a certified carpal tunnel brace does not have a metal palmar spine (see picture above). That spine will press into your carpal tunnel as you sleep. 
   
   
2. Never wear a wrist brace during the day. Doing so will just cause your hand to subconsciously fight the brace. You can't help it, and it will further stress your already overworked tendons. 
   

It’s well-known that tendon stresses contribute to getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Therefore, stretching out your tired tendons keeps them supple and free of adhesions. That allows them to glide gently and smoothly, without irritation. 

Whether your symptoms have begun or not, these exercises are for everybody who works with their hands. This link for  carpal tunnel stretches shows you how to perform the quickest and most effective stretching exercises. They can reduce symptoms amazingly fast when properly and frequently performed. 

They only take 30 seconds to complete, which doesn't interfere with your work schedule. So do them before the work activity begins. Then do them every 30-60 minutes. They're an excellent way to avoid AND treat carpal tunnel syndrome while also strengthening your hands.

After each exercise, drop your hands at your sides and shake them out until they feel warm. Warmth means blood is flowing through your hand and fingers. Also, your tendons are experiencing the range of motion they need while also getting more nutrients from the additional blood flow. This will go a long way to reversing carpal tunnel symptoms.

Here's how to treat carpal tunnel syndrome to eliminate it completely: massage. More than the other treatments discussed above, massage can reverse carpal tunnel syndrome even in the severe stage.  But not just any massage will do. 

You must use myofascial release massage. It's a special technique that physical therapists have been using for decades. They use it every day for about 4 weeks to relieve symptoms over 90% of the time.

Myofascial release massage does 2 crucial things to your wrist area:

1. The massage breaks up adhesions that form around tendons and prevents them from gliding smoothly. This is the fundamental reason you get symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. The massage's special twisting and kneading motion transmits below the skin to the flexor tendons. Adhesions and restriction are freed and irritation and swelling reduce. Tendons can glide smoothly again. 
   
   
2. Another advantage of myofascial release massage it that it drains excessive fluid. That fluid build-up is the result of tendon inflammation. Simultaneously, the massage also accelerates blood flow. Good circulation in the area facilitates healing by bringing in nutrients and removing debris from the damage wrist joint.

But there's a downside: myofascial release massage is not easy to do on yourself. That's because it usually requires two hands to perform. So you'll need help from a partner who is willing and able to learn the technique - and perform it regularly for 1-2 months. 

On the upside,  having daily myofascial release massage is the most important measure you can take to reverse carpal tunnel syndrome. 

If you perform some simple techniques right now, you can reverse carpal tunnel symptoms. Mild symptoms will disappear faster than severe symptoms. Most importantly, the 4 Key Steps you need to take must be done simultaneously in order to get the best results.