Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
If you want to understand how to treat carpal tunnel syndrome, you first have to understand what it is. The carpal tunnel is space wrist between the carpal bones of the hand. With tension in the flexor muscles of the hand and forearm, this causes this opening to narrow, which then causes pressure on the median nerve. This article will mostly be focused on the mechanical causes, though there may be hormonal, rheumatic disease, vascular, surgical, or neurological factors as well.
So if there is mechanical pressure, what treatment is most appropriate?? Generally speaking, when muscles are overly contracted, you’ll want to stretch them out. One of the best stretches for this is to place your hands flat against surface in front of you. Straighten your elbows and rotate your arms so that your elbow pits face upward (see picture below). You can do several variation of position. Next, in the position of the fingers facing backward, lift the palm and drop the elbow toward the floor. This will get a very deep stretch all the way down to the fingers. Lastly, bring your hands together as is you are praying, and then bring both index fingers down together toward the palm. For some people, they do not feel very much, for others it is very intense. If you are a person that is experiencing strong sensations, there may be adhesions between the tendon sheathes, sticking them together which will cause a sharp or burning sensation.
Make sure that you go gently, not pushing yourself beyond a 3 on a scale of 1-10 (1 being slightly uncomfortable, 10 being the worst pain you’ve ever felt.) It should be somewhat uncomfortable, but not painful. There is a tendency to either push to far, or avoid discomfort altogether. The trick is finding that therapeutic edge in the middle, where you are going far enough to change the tone of the tendons, but not so far to be damaging the tissue. This takes practice, but you will get a feel for it over time. This guidelines applies to all stretches and exercises.
For all these stretches, make sure to hold the position for at least 30 seconds to ensure you change the tone of the tissues.
These exercises are a good start for carpal tunnel syndrome treatment. With a visit to an osteopathy clinic, your practitioner will be able to give you a more specific program as well a release tension in the ligaments deep into the carpal bones themselves. They will also check for tensions in the nerves and blood vessels that may need to be released, as well as is there are any issue higher up into the arm, shoulder or neck that may be contributing. The other potential factors listed at the beginning of this article would be considered as well, and a program designed according. Carpal tunnel syndrome is particularly challenging, since full use of our hands is critical for everyday tasks. With a thorough evaluation and program deign that looks at the issue from a broad numbers of factors, we can find relief of pain and return to full functionality, utilizing the carpal tunnel syndrome treatment that works best for you.
In health,
Eli Mead DOMP