We are constantly using our hands.
No wonder about 4% of the population suffers from carpal tunnel syndrome – about 14 million people! As a chiropractor for carpal tunnel in Springfield, IL, I know how frustrating carpal tunnel can be. It interferes with all the basics – typing, reading, driving, writing – making every day harder to get through.
We don’t need help making our days challenging. What we need are ways to make our days easier.
Most carpal tunnel treatments are inconvenient and ineffective. Surgery takes time and money, and medications have the baggage of side effects. What’s worse is that these expensive and risky treatment options often make the condition worse.
We also don’t have the time to wait around for medications to take effect or to recover from surgery. We have Yelp reviews to leave, social media profiles to scroll anonymously, and love letters to write. We need natural treatments for carpal tunnel relief that work in as little as 24 hours.
No, it’s not…
To know which option is right, we must first understand what is causing our condition. Each cause requires a specific approach. Correcting the cause will lead to long-term pain relief rather than just sitting around anxiously waiting for the pain medication to wear off.
What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
The carpal tunnel is a passageway in the wrist that the median nerve travels through, connecting the forearm to the palm and fingers. The median nerve provides motor function to the fingers and hand and facilitates sensory communication to the brain so we can feel things like heat, cold, and…
Inflammation in that passageway compresses the median nerve, resulting in pain, decreased range of motion in the hand, and compromised function.
Carpal Tunnel Causes and Symptoms
No two hands are the same, even two hands connected to the same body. Carpal tunnel symptoms also differ depending on what is causing nerve compression, but some signs and symptoms typically include:
- Pain and throbbing
- Numbness and tingling
- Inability to use the affected hand
- Shock-like sensations
- Radiating pain up the forearm toward the shoulder
- Muscle weakness
- Weak grip
- Loss of proprioception
Overuse and stress in tendons and ligaments build up over time, causing inflammation and nerve irritation. Corporate warriors who spend hours a day writing “circling back” and “per my last email,” factory or warehouse workers sprigging sprockets and pulling pulleys, and aunts sewing patches onto the holes in their nephew’s jeans are all at risk for developing carpal tunnel syndrome.
Other risk factors include:
- Genetics
- Being female
- Regular flexion or extension of the hand and wrist
- Hormonal changes
- Obesity
- Existing conditions, like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and thyroid disorders
Watch out, girl!
Early treatment is always ideal, especially with carpal tunnel syndrome. As time goes on, the condition tends to get worse as the nerve becomes more irritated. This also helps patients avoid braces, medication, and surgery. Surgery should always be a last resort.
Carpal tunnel surgery involves severing the ligament in the wrist to expand the carpal tunnel and waiting for the ligament to grow back together. This requires months of recovery, and the side effects can include:
- Decreased grip strength
- Infection
- Nerve damage
- Stiffness
- Pain
- Tingling
- Numbness
- Weakness
- Instability
Natural Treatments for Carpal Tunnel Relief
Rest
A lot of us have trouble resting. We’re also stubborn, with no interest in changing our daily routine. But pain and dysfunction are two great reasons to change our habits. Any activity that causes flare-ups in symptoms, like typing, birdhouse making, or macarena-ing, should be put on hold to allow the body to heal.
Modifying our activities will make sure the situation doesn’t get worse. Rest is the perfect excuse not to write that email or finish sanding the back deck.
Carpal Tunnel Exercises
At the Springfield Wellness Center, we pair all chiropractic adjustments for carpal tunnel with exercises and stretches to help maintain the structural changes and keep symptoms at bay. Carpal tunnel stretches and exercises can also help resolve symptoms on their own. Adjustments and exercises are an iconic duo, much like:
Some of the best exercises are:
- Wrist Flexor Stretch
- Hand Squeeze
- Spiders Doing Pushups on a Mirror
Spiders doing what now?
These stretches don’t require any equipment and are easy to do during the workday while waiting for a response to a heated email sent to HR.
Posture Correction
For those of us who spend the day sitting at a desk next to a woman named Shelly, desperately clacking away at a computer to drown out the story about her sister-in-law’s gout she’s told the office three times already, we probably need carpal tunnel relief more than anyone.
The trick is often as simple as raising or lowering our desk, raising the computer screen, and sitting upright in a comfortable position. Practicing the best ergonomics can bring immediate carpal tunnel relief, allowing our arms and wrists to sit naturally at our keyboards.
Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Poor diet and carpal tunnel syndrome are rarely mentioned in the same sentence. But, a condition affected by inflammation in the body requires an anti-inflammatory approach. There’s no better way to lower our body’s inflammation levels than by eating anti-inflammatory foods rich in omega-3s.
Our body needs antioxidants, electrolytes, and other essential nutrients to fight inflammation and heal. Nutrients like potassium and magnesium help flush excess fluid to reduce swelling. Indulge in:
- Whole fruits and vegetables
- Fish, flax, and chia seeds
- Green leafy vegetables
- Beans
- Wild meats
- Water
Stay away from:
- Added sugar
- Too much salt or sodium
- Saturated fats
- Processed grains
- Alcohol
Chiropractic Care for Carpal Tunnel Relief
The best physician to see regarding carpal tunnel relief is a chiropractor.
It may sound biased, but I swear it’s true. There’s a reason I became a chiropractor. Chiropractic care is the best medicine for long-term pain relief!
Chiropractic treatment optimizes the musculoskeletal and nervous systems to improve our body’s ability to function and heal. This helps prevent problems in the first place rather than scrambling to react to issues as they arise.
We can also adjust the wrist bones to remove pressure on the median nerve. An unobstructed tunnel allows for the free flow of blood and energy. Otherwise, it just looks like this:
There is no need for pain to slow us down or for frustration to make us monsters to deal with. At the Springfield Wellness Center, we can craft an individualized plan to relieve carpal tunnel and keep it away. Faster than it would take to recover from surgery or wait for the latest dosage of painkillers to kick in.
Give us a call or schedule a time to meet with one of our amazing doctors. Idle hands are the devil’s playground; we make sure our patients’ hands are anything but idle.