Tight shoulder muscles can cause pain in your carpal tunnel area. Here’s one way:
On your back you have two shoulder blades. Maybe you can still move your shoulder blades or maybe you can’t. If we don’t use muscles they have a tendency to get less flexible.
That means you will have less movement. 🙁
There are muscles on each side of your back between your shoulder blade and ribs called the subscapularis. Sometimes I just call it the subscap for short. The subscap is one of your four rotator cuff muscles. Those are the four muscles that allow your shoulder to rotate.
If you stop using those muscles–moving your shoulder blades–that affects the other rotator cuff muscles. In fact, injury or weakness or stiffness (tightness) in any of the other three rotator cuff muscles will also affect your subscap muscle.
Now when your shoulder can no longer move easily through space that is called muscle imbalance.
Sometimes restricted movement occurs because of pain. Very often the pain is caused by the muscles. Muscles are the most overlooked cause of joint and other pain in your hands and arms.
Your carpal tunnel is directly attached to your shoulder muscles.
Try this:
Drop your
hands to your sides. Look down.
Where are your thumbs pointing?
If they are pointing toward each other that means the muscles in the front of your shoulder are shortened and “tight.” That happens because we use them a lot.
But it also means that your subscap muscles are on the weak side.
It means your shoulder cannot move easily in all of the directions it once could. The muscles are out of balance.
Nerves run from your neck to your hand. When your shoulder muscles are out of balance it causes pressure on the nerves.
And that is how your shoulder muscles cause pain in your hand.
Nerves don’t like to be pressed on or pinched. But there is good news! 🙂
Muscles are treatable! Most people can help their shoulder muscles get back in balance.
You will have to take action but that’s okay. That how everything gets accomplished: action.
By learning how to take care of and move the muscles in your shoulder in a more relaxed and balanced way you can get rid of the carpal tunnel pain caused by your shoulder muscles.