Carpal Tunnel can be really painful, but you can get rid of it
I’ve been feeling the very beginnings of carpal tunnel, some aching in my hands and wrists. Normally I ignore little nagging pains but I’m not going to mess around with this at all. I’m taking action, immediately.
It came on during a huge writing week. I wrote something like 10,000 words on my trusty laptop and that, I fear, is the problem. Slouched on a couch, bad wrist angle … my keyboard is a source of income for me, I need to be smart here.
Here’s what I’m doing …
Ergonomics. Moved to a table to straighten wrist angle helped right away. You want the line from the top of your arm to be straight flowing through the top of the hand with the knuckles curving down towards the keyboard. This keeps the wrist straight so the nerves traveling into the hand don’t get constricted or pinched in any way.
Writing smart. I can plow through a lot of writing in a short amount of time, so I’d set aside a day and just write and write and write. Now I’m spreading it out and taking break.
Being careful with social media. I can hangout on social media for hours, some of it is work related now but a lot of it is just me chatting with folks. Unfortunately I’ve had to curtail that a bit to give my hands a break.
Yoga. Yoga is the only exercise I found that has any clinical studies linking it to improvements with carpal tunnel. So a few downward dogs and planks in the morning seem to help a lot.
Stretches. The physical therapists recommend this and I’ve been doing it, it definitely helps. Bend the top of your hand back towards your elbow. I’ve been doing this up against a wall, or just be grabbing with my other hand and pulling. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds (or longer) until you feel it start to release.
Traumeel. A homeopathic salve I discovered during my hiking trip over the summer. It saved my knees from brutal mountain trails and it’s helping my hands and wrists now.
Doing Other Things. Unstrapping from the computer and doing other things helps a lot. My wrists always loosen up when I cook or clean or do Pilates or even Spinning. When I’m not working, everything feels better. Since I’m in start up mode with my social media company this is easier said than done.
Here’s what I firmly believe. Carpal Tunnel is totally preventable. If you wind up with it, you did it to yourself. I know the pressure of getting work out the door and that it simply has to get done, but there are ways you can mitigate and the biggest thing is to NOT ignore those early tingles.
Hope this helps other people, if you’ve gotten carpal tunnel and have some ideas to share please do. I’d welcome the help!
Cheers,
Lisa
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