With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Preventative Medicine is the Most Effective Medicine You can reduce your risk of contracting carpal tunnel syndrome - a painful set of symptoms including numbness in the hands and fingers- and lessen any hand or wrist pain or weakness you already suffer with. These few easy steps will put you well on your way to reducing current pain or preventing it altogether: 1. Stay healthy: Many health conditions and diseases increase your risk for carpal tunnel symptoms. Stay healthy by exercising regularly, stay at a healthy weight, avoid smoking, and control any other health conditions like arthritis and diabetes. 2. Rearrange activity and work spaces: Review ergonomic guidelines and implement several of the suggested items. Office ergonomics focus on how workstations are set up, the placement and alignment of the desk, chair, computer, paperwork and associated tools. These same concepts can be applied to other daily activities. 3. Utilize proper body mechanics: By sitting with good posture and holding your core muscles tight, you take your weight off the wrists and prevent inflammation of tissue in the wrist. 4. Take breaks: Taking frequent breaks from activities to stretch, change positions, rest or alternate with another activity can be key in preventing carpal tunnel symptoms. 6 Exercise and stretch the wrists and hands: Exercise programs specifically for preventing carpal tunnel syndrome will strengthen the fingers, wrists, hands, forearms, shoulders and neck. By strengthening and stretching the muscles in this region of the body, tissue is less likely to become inflamed. 7. Replacing old tools with ergonomically designed new ones can be very helpful. While not shown to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome entirely, new ergonomically designed work stations and tools may aid in reducing the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. Poorly designed office furniture contributes to bad posture which also increases the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome.
8. Take breaks and avoid repetition Whenever possible, begin with a short warm up period before starting your daily tasks. Take frequent “micro breaks� of up to three minutes to stretch and rest the muscles in the fingers, hand, wrist and arm. Avoid overly exhausting finger and hand muscles. Vary the tasks performed as often as possible. Using these simple steps, you can alleviate or reduce your risk of experiencing carpal tunnel syndrome. If you believe that these few steps are not assisting any pain in your wrist, hand or fingers, please consult your physician.
RESOURCES MyCarpalTunnel.com Informative Video from Dentist, Dr. Perrone, former CTS Sufferer