Carpal Tunnel Treatments You Can Do At Home

There are conservative treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome that a doctor would be likely to recommend before surgery. Surgery is a radical treatment, and you can improve your carpal tunnel symptoms with conservative home treatments.

The sooner you know you have carpal tunnel syndrome, the better. You can start treating it early, and have less permanent damage. Relieving the symptoms will be easier if you care for your hand and wrists from the start, and if you do it right, you could eliminate the pain altogether.

The first thing to do is limit the activity that causes you the most pain. Eliminate it temporarily if you can. If not, cut back on the time you spend doing it. Let your wrist rest for longer periods between your various activities. Apply ice to your wrist for 10 to 15 minutes once or twice per hour. This will help alleviate swelling and pain. Use an ice bag or a frozen pack for injuries. Wrap it in a thin towel to prevent your skin from direct contact with the ice.

If you need help keeping your wrists in a neutral position, look into getting a wrist splint. These can be worn anytime as long as they are convenient for you. Some people wear them at night to ensure that they do not sleep with their wrists flexed. Others like to wear the splints during the day while they work to keep them from straining their median nerve. Wrist splints take some getting used to, but they can really help alleviate discomfort.

Anti-inflammatory drugs may help with pain and swelling, or they may not. It may be worth a try to see if it helps your individual situation. While studies have not shown a definitive advantage to using NSAIDS to treat carpal tunnel syndrome, some patients feel they have benefited from taking them.

Improving your body positions, stretching and changing your position frequently can also help relieve your symptoms. You want to prevent your wrists from remaining flexed or extended for long periods of time because this is what causes pressure on your nerve.

A doctor can provide a cortisone injection if the situation is bad enough. Cortisone will reduce the inflammation and compression in your wrist, and lidocaine can be added to extend the pain-relief effects of the injection. Nobody should have these injections too often. If you are diabetic, you would have to be extra careful, because insulin levels can be affected by cortisone.

A great thing to do to prevent pain in your wrists is to learn some stretches, and get some exercises to strengthen and relieve stress in them. Doctors and physical therapists should be able to teach you some stretches and exercises. If you follow them properly, there is a good chance that you can heal your wrists and eliminate your carpal tunnel syndrome without surgery.

Daily wrist exercises, and other small actions can take care of your wrists, and heal them. Being diligent with them over a period of time can relieve you of the pain and swelling completely, and keep it from coming back.

Tom Nicholson has discovered a strange set of carpal tunnel exercises that have helped carpal tunnel sufferers all over the world. They are simple, easy to follow and can be done without leaving your home. Take a look at his sight and find out what you can do to help prevent your CTS from progressing and easing the pain you feel now.