Carpal Tunnel is a relatively common condition that affects a person’s wrist or hand. Symptoms include numbness, pins and needles sensation, weakness, and pain. If you notice you’re experiencing difficulty doing your daily tasks such as writing, typing, or using utensils to eat, then you might have Carpal Tunnel.
The difficulties associated with Carpal Tunnel syndrome can affect your work and your daily life but that doesn’t need to be the case forever. There are lots of things you can do to relieve some of your carpal tunnel pain and they all range from cheap to expensive, or short vs long term options. For instance, you can try CarpalAID relief or other cold compresses on your wrist to help you relieve some of your pain. Or you could try…
Wearing a brace
A brace helps supports your wrist’s tendons and muscles. This gives them a chance to heal and rest while you go about your daily or nightly routine. It also prevents you from curling your wrist which can add pressure on the nerves in your wrist. This is helpful to wear at night so you don’t accidentally sleep with your wrist curled.
Taking pain relief meds
Aspirin, Ibuprofen, and other anti-inflammatories can help eliminate pain. Carpal tunnel can cause a lot of inflammation and swelling in the wrist. This inflammation causes the room around the nerve to shrink which puts it under extra pressure. This doesn’t feel good. By decreasing some of that inflammation that’s causing you pain.
Give yourself a break
One of the causes of carpal tunnel syndrome is repetitive movement of the wrist and hand. By taking breaks and lightening your load so to speak. It will give your wrist a chance to rest which can help relieve some of that inflammation and pain you’ve been experiencing.
During your breaks, be sure to stretch or wiggle your fingers and wrist. This will help circulate blood to the area, which promotes healing and eliminates swelling. Repeating wrist exercises can help you improve your strength in your wrist and fingers as well.
Talk to your doctor
If you’ve tried improving your symptoms on your own, it’s time to get expert help. A doctor can not only monitor the progression of your Carpal Tunnel syndrome, but they can also help you find better ways to improve your pain and treat your Carpal Tunnel syndrome.
A good doctor will give you an exam, and take some diagnostic tests to determine what course of treatment is best for you. They’ll listen to your symptoms and concerns and help guide you to relief. They’ll recommend one or more of the following treatment options.
If you don’t have a doctor, it’s time you find one. Follow the link for advice. https://health.usnews.com/health-care/top-doctors/articles/how-to-find-a-good-doctor
Physical/Occupational Therapy
Your doctor might recommend physical or occupational surgery if you have moderate Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. While it can’t be corrected this way, a physical or occupational therapist can prevent the problem from worsening or affecting both wrists.
A physical therapist can help you increase movement and strength in your wrist by teaching you pain-relieving exercises you can do every day. It’s short-term pain relief but it will help improve your movement and wrist flexibility.
An occupational therapist can help teach you ways to use your wrist and hand muscles without causing added strain. By changing the way, you use your wrist and hand, you can make sure you’re not making your Carpal Tunnel worse. They’ll teach you quick and easy ways to make sure you’re not making things harder on yourself.
Cortisol injections
Cortisol injections can relieve some of the inflammation in your wrist which will, in turn, relieve the pressure on your nerves. Lots of people find relief with this course of treatment that can last around ten weeks or so depending on the severity of your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
The one drawback to cortisol injections is that they don’t relieve treatment forever. You’ll need multiple injections over the course of the year and if your symptoms are more severe, you might need even more throughout the year.
Cortisol injections can worsen your symptoms temporarily, cause infections, and even damage tendons and nerves. While these side effects aren’t common for everyone who receives these injections, it’s still something you should be aware of before you decide to go through with this course of treatment.
Surgery
If you’ve tried all of these treatment options, and still haven’t felt any relief, then surgery might be your last option. Surgery is a great option for people who have severe pain or weakness in their wrist. It’s also a great option if noninvasive treatments haven’t worked to relieve your pain.
Surgery will relieve the pressure on your median nerve causing you pain by cutting the ligament that’s placing that pressure. You can either do endoscopic surgery or open surgery, depending on your surgeon’s recommendation.
Endoscopic surgery uses a camera to see the inside of the carpal tunnel that’s been affected. This gives the surgeon a good view of the ligament they plan to cut. Open surgery is when your surgeon cuts into your palm to find the carpal tunnel and relieve the pressure on the median nerve.
Surgery can cause infection, scars, and injury to the nerves in your hand. These risks are usually minimal and don’t happen often, but they’re still something to be aware of before you commit. For more information on the surgery, click the link. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/carpal-tunnel-release.
Recovering time can vary depending on your age and the severity of your condition. It can take several weeks or months before you’re fully recovered from the surgery but you will recover. If the surgery was a success, you won’t feel the same amount of pain as you did before.
Finding relief for your carpal tunnel syndrome is something that should be a priority for you. Pain can prevent you from doing all the things you love to do and make you lose focus. There are so many ways you can relieve the pain you experience because of your carpal tunnel syndrome that I’m sure you’ll feel some relief after some trial and error.