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Home Remedies For Carpal Tunnel

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Over the years I thought I had carpal tunnel syndrome several times. As a massage therapist who uses my hands I place pressure on my wrists repeatedly each day while trying to help clients. I needed a home remedy for carpal tunnel much like my clients do. My practice grew and I knew not only that I did not have carpal tunnel but many of my clients didn’t either. Many, including myself, just suffer from trigger point pain in the muscles of the forearms.

Sound too simple? It does I admit. I get paid to help others and most of what I’ve learned has come from helping myself. If I can work on clients all day and be fine, you can be too. Musician with hand pain? Mechanic with what feels like arthritis? Knitter who’s afraid you’ll have to stop your favorite hobby? Not if I have anything to do with it.

Robert Gardner Wellness Home Remedies For Carpal Tunnel

The forearm flexors pull the hand in towards the inside of the elbow, the forearm extensors, extend the hands the opposite direction. When these small muscles are overworked they send pain down into the hand, wrist and fingers. I’ve seen this so many times that someone can tell me where they hurt and I work on those specific muscles. 30 minutes later clients look at me like how did you know that? I usually laugh and tell them I had to keep working and I figured it out for myself first.

Schedule a session with me and lets get those symptoms to go away. There’s no need to be in pain when help is available. If you’re not able to see me you can lean into a tennis ball on the outside of your forearm, near the elbow. It’s usually easiest to use a sturdy wall and place your arm at your side. Find a spot dead center on the outside of your forearm to press into. Lean in slowly and breathe. If you start to feel sensation, pain or light tingling in the hand, you’re on the right track.

A recent client reported they were at an 8 on a pain scale out of 10, 10 being the hospital. After a single session his look of awe told me everything. “How’s the pain now?” He responded shocked shaking his arm out, “A 2.” After several sessions he’d not seen me in a month and reported that it never goes past a 3 now. No surgery. No medications.

Let’s make carpal tunnel history.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

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I hear of carpal tunnel syndrome so often I grow sick of it. Computer workers constantly complain of pain in their hands and wrists. I think I used to have it. Syndromes in western medicine are complicated because they’re usually a list of symptoms that are given a name. In my case, I work as a massage therapist and I use my hands, all day. A few years into my practice and before I used Thai massage it was just too much pressure on my carpals and wrists.

In that position I do what everyone does, I go to the doctor and they look at my quizzically. I was told to work less and use naproxen sodium. If you’re anything like me you have Huge fear and anxiety about your ability to keep working to pay bills. It’s no fun to realize you type at a computer all day and are now going to have to figure something else out.

That carpal tunnel I had? I didn’t. Essentially I had trigger points in my forearms that were causing pain in my hand. Deal with the trigger points and slowly but surely hand pain, what hand pain? I’ve been working for 11 years with no signs of slowing down. That incident was 8 years ago. The video above shows the work I do on my wife periodically for her continuous use of her hands at a computer and from knitting.

If you’re having issues with carpal tunnel you should Come In and See Me. I can figure out within ten minutes if I’m going to be able to help you. As I tell people, I do not diagnose, I do not treat conditions but…what if I we can make your symptoms go away?

Myofascial Pain Trigger Points pt.9 Anterior Scalene

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For such small muscles the scalenes cause a huge amount of pain in a large range of the body. When clients come in I often check the anterior scalene if they have issue with any of the following: arm pain, hand pain, thoracic outlet syndrome, headaches, migraines, chest pain and carpal tunnel syndrome. Being able to work on and release the scalenes effectively is an important part of any bodyworker’s tool chest.

You place gentle broad finger pressure on the muscle and hold. Have whoever you’re working on breathe and see if the muscle begins to give way. The upper portion often refers pain into the head the lower half down into the chest and arm. If you do not tell the client this notice that they’ll start moving their hand on the side you’re working as they feel the sensation.

The carotid artery is nearby and is fine, just don’t press into it if you feel the pulse underneath. When it doubt don’t. Take your time, breathe, go slow and use your hands effectively. Try working it on yourself and see how tight the muscle is.

Myofascial Pain Trigger Points

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Myofascial pain and trigger points from flexor carpi ulnaris should be the next spot you look at after working with flexor carpi radialis. The referred pain caused by trigger points here will be similar to flexor carpi radialis but in my experience the pain runs down towards the underside of the outer hand and to the middle to pinky fingers. If you believe you’re having carpal tunnel syndrome, check this area.

I find the forearm extensors to be the first stop in dealing with carpal tunnel syndrome but I recommend looking at these two trigger points in addition. Spending time at a computer is something most of us will continue for a long time so regular maintenance is a must. When you work the trigger point, go slow, it can be tender. You’ll find it exquisitely painful then hang out, breath and see if it releases.

Myofascial Pain Trigger Points

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Pain due to carpal tunnel syndrome and myofascial pain from trigger points is all too common. In our previous blog posts we went over chest and shoulder girdle pain and we’re slowly working out way down the arm. This is pt. 4 and the muscle I want to cover is flexor carpi radialis.

Trigger points in this muscle will send pain down the hand near the wrist. It’s an easy to reach spot and if you spend your time at a keyboard doing computer work try this out. Even if you’ve no debilitating issues it will probably be tight as mine is, from doing manual labor. Use slow continuous pressure from your implement of choice. I show using finger pressure then a steady elbow in the video.

Flexor carpi radialis is a good starting point for forearm and hand pain. Check out the anatomy of the muscle and also keep in mind that you may compress and remove blood supply to the hand temporarily. This flush of fresh blood is a good thing and to be encouraged, we’re cleaning you out from the inside out.

If you can use a tool like your elbow or a small knob feel free to be creative. Any small amount of work you do is cumulative. Good luck and keep carpal tunnel syndrome at bay.

Hope

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Having a conversation with a client he announced, “you give people hope.” When clients pay small verbal affirmations of my work I’ve made it a point to sit in them, honor them and let them sink in. All too often I finish a session thinking if I could have been more in tune, if I could have used more pressure etc. Being a perfectionist has its downfalls. I’m happy to give people hope, I’ve had it myself for quite some time.

Clients come to me with a list of complaints, aches, pains and usually in 2 hours they leave feeling much better. Their conditions don’t just go away, we’ve just lessened the issue. Their medical complaints are so vast I can’t expect to cure anything, that’s not really what I do. The only cure comes from inside them. Beyond genetics, they control the nurture. You can nurture all sorts of conditions and see improvement. It reminds me of veterans who’ve lost limbs. They seem to have the strongest bodies because the rest of them is compensating for not having the extra limb. They seem stronger than everyone else. I told myself many years ago that my pain may never fully go away but if it cannot the rest of my body will be so strong and so healthy my issue is just an annoyance that doesn’t rob me of my life.

You have arthritis? Carpal tunnel syndrome? Thoracic outlet syndrome? Pain and tingling in your hands and arms? Pain in your feet or lower legs? Pain that runs down your leg from your buttocks? Low back pain? Upper back and neck pain? All of those are the most common conditions I see and I can almost guarantee that within a few sessions I can show you great relief. Beyond that I can help describe what may be happening, how you can work on it at home and how we can prevent it in the future. That’s where hope comes in. I don’t work with you to keep you coming back. I work with you so you get better. I’m happy to work on you but it does my life no great joy to create a revolving door of clients.

Let’s look at something as insidious as arthritis. This one is personal to me since this seems to run in my family. There is I don’t doubt some genetic component but nature/nurture is the battle I see looming large. Until the science steps up and gives us more details I believe most conditions can be made tolerable if not healed. Any kind of -itis is usually inflammation at some point. Inflammation seems to be a normal healing response that goes haywire.

In my case I’ve apparently come from a line of people who are prone to arthritis and I’ve had trauma to my neck and upper back from a car accident. Double whammy. Do I have arthritis? I don’t believe so. Will I have it? A doctor has told me that I will probably get it particularly in areas that were damaged in the accident. That sets up my life and my challenge. I want to be healthy and whole.

Yoga in particular holds great potential. Thai massage and other bodywork is good as well but yoga in particular appeals because it’s inexpensive, noninvasive but goes to the core of your being and you take it with you. You don’t have to keep coming back to me, you know how to care for things yourself, with practice. Along with deterioration of a joint that goes with arthritis I believe there are muscular and structural issues at play. You must keep the joint mobile within reason and help your cardiovascular system flush the area with fresh, clean blood as much as possible.

It’s been my experience that warming the area, flushing it with blood will help with symptoms and long term I believe it may in some instances heal arthritis. Mine, if I have it isn’t bad. Certainly not to the point of taking medications. Currently I take…nothing. Not even an aleve from time to time. So, heat the body up, keep it pliable, strengthen muscles and continue using your body. Very simple health advice overall. This does however go deeper.

The poses in yoga help clean you out from the inside out. Your Whole body. This is the definition of holistic. Part of that work is breathing, the pranayama exercises in yoga. This work regulates the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in your bloodstream and also helps balance the different parts of your nervous system. People’s sympathetic nervous system is often keyed up, fight or flight wins. Problem is in fight or flight your body doesn’t care if you digest food, doesn’t care about cleansing and repair. You Must stimulate your relaxation response. This part of your nervous system that takes over is the parasympathetic. This part cleans, repairs, and nourishes the relaxation response. Your body and your nervous system must be balanced.

Krishnamacharya held that the breath was critical to controlling the inner functions of the body. He would say, in English, “Lungs are pump. Control breathing. Control heartbeat.” ~ A. G. Mohan, “Krishnamacharya: His Life and Teachings”

Now we get to where it’s really interesting. This is the edge, the area that’s hardly been studied scientifically. Yoga gives you control over your body. With practice you can control things that most doctors will tell you you cannot control. We talked about vascularity and blood flow and how important it is in inflammatory conditions like arthritis. What about the center of the cardiovascular system, the heart? Here’s cutting to the chase. Not only do I think you can make areas more vascular and cleanse them I think that you can fundamentally gain control of your heart and heart beat itself. With practice you can stop your heart. Most will tell you this is impossible and that’s fine.

I don’t necessarily wish to have this control, this is deep, far reaching work that may take a lifetime but if you can control your heart enough to make it stop do you think you could help a case of arthritis? My point exactly. You have Far more control over your health and conditions than most would have you believe.

If you have arthritis I recommend Bikram yoga. The practice works your heart, warms your body and speeds cleansing and repair. The internal tourniquets you form flush the problem areas with blood. This may never heal your condition fully but if the symptoms go away, do you still have arthritis? Let’s explore and see. I’ve been doing so for the past 7 years.

Forearms and Hands pt.2

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Hand pain is something I find fairly frequently as a massage therapist and also something I have to be cautious about from my own practice involving those same structures. Many times I see hand and finger tingling, numbness and pain in various forms coming from the forearm extensors of clients.

In my clinical experience the points that you’re working are primarily at the elbow end of extensor carpi radialis, extensor carpi ulnaris and brachioradialis. Those are big words but don’t let them scare you, people just use them when they’re trying to seem smart. If you watch the video and use these techniques you’ll hit all three points with ease.

If you use these techniques on someone go slow and be purposeful. You can hold a point to get a release or you can roll through it towards the elbow which is also intense. It can feel odd to someone to press in one area and feel it elsewhere so reassure the person you’re working on that you’re not doing damage so long as the sensation is intense but no pain is experienced. To me that means that you don’t contract muscles and pull away out of fear of further harm.

Trigger points can be extremely tender. For people with chronic issues these can be real healers. I wouldn’t doubt there are people who’ve given up their favorite activities, knitting, spinning or playing musical instruments when they didn’t need to. Working as a massage therapist for ten years I use these on myself regularly, it’s allowed me to keep going without fear that I would harm myself.

Good luck and feel free to share your experiences.