How to Massage for Carpal Tunnel
How to Massage for Carpal Tunnel
Ask any therapist who treats hand pain and they'll say that massage for carpal tunnel is their "go-to" remedy. If you’re worried about carpal tunnel syndrome then learn more about this non-surgical, massage treatment here.
And if you already have symptoms there's a 40% chance they'll just get worse without intervention. That's when carpal tunnel is much harder to treat. So why wait when this treatment can be done NOW?
- FIND OUT: do you have carpal tunnel?
No strings attached self-test.
Massage for carpal tunnel is an excellent choice
Every single day, at least one patient laments they didn’t get massage years earlier, when their symptoms started. Usually, they come to me when both
hands are affected. Having carpal tunnel on both hands happens
80% of the time. And usually by then, the situation has gone from annoying to serious.
The massage they need is called myofascial release. As a neurophysiologist, I've spent decades researching and writing about this therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome because it yields such tremendous results.
Myofascial release massage is very different than standard pressure massage. That's because it breaks up adhesions and restrictions on the flexor tendons inside your wrist joint. That's where carpal tunnel syndrome is focused. It also drains excessive fluid build-up from around swollen flexor tendons. That swelling causes carpal tunnel's symptoms.
To see good results, massage must be performed daily for 1 month
Myofascial release massage works incredibly well against carpal tunnel syndrome. But there's a catch: to see good results the massage must be performed daily for 1 month
So to help patients, I always advise they have two choices when it comes to getting daily myofascial release massage.
- Get myofascial release massage from a
trained physical therapist or chiropractor. They're skilled in this technique and can deliver the therapy you need. Of course, the problem is that a 15 minute session with a professional therapist every day for a month
can get expensive.
- Get the automated myofascial release massager I invented, called the
CarpalRx. (Actually, I first created it to cure my wife’s carpal tunnel symptoms.) It delivers the
identical myofascial release massage automatically. You use it at home and at your convenience for 30 days.
IMPORTANT: In the vast majority of patients, carpal tunnel symptoms only worsen with time. And by the time pain or numbness is so bad that it drives you to the doctor, many patients have nerve damage. Don't let it go that far!
Myofascial release massage for carpal tunnel
The benefits of myofascial release massage come from its mechanical action on tissues. Remember, this isn't ordinary pressure massage or vibration massage. It's a complex therapy over the wrist and forearm area.
How it’s performed
To begin, massage for carpal tunnel involves two or more fingers - usually the thumbs. This is crucial. The fingers move over the skin of your wrist and forearm in counter-rotating directions. The fingers push and twist the skin using long, semi-circular strokes.
As a result, the fingers “knead” the skin and underlying tissues, primarily the flexor tendons. This action serves several purposes.
- First, it breaks up
adhesions between the tendons and surrounding tissues. Breaking down that hardened tissue enables tendons to glide smoother inside their sheaths.
- Second, the kneading drains fluid from the carpal tunnel space. Doing so relieves pressure on the
median nerve (the nerve damaged in carpal tunnel syndrome). Additionally, blood flow increases below the massage. This brings vital nutrients right to the tissues.
- Finally, myofascial release massage makes the carpal tunnel larger. That gives more room to the median nerve. In fact, compression on the median nerve is the root cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. So more room for the nerve means less compression.
On the whole, these combined actions are why massage for carpal tunnel is such a powerful remedy.
Summary
Massage for carpal tunnel is a proven and effective way to get rid of symptoms. The only downside is you can’t do it on yourself very easily because you need two hands. It also requires some special training. At present, most myofascial release massage is performed by physical therapists and chiropractors. To cure carpal tunnel symptoms, you need the massage at least once a day (twice a day is best) for 30 days.