Perhaps you have already seen a massage therapist for your carpal tunnel pain. Maybe it helped or maybe it didn’t.
If your massage did not help much, you will learn how to select a massage therapist who can make a difference with your carpal tunnel syndrome.
If you haven’t tried massage yet for your hand, wrist and arm pain
(or any other pains) this article will help you select the best massage
therapist in your area for your situation.
Look for a practitioner who has good credentials and lots of experience. Words like Neuromuscular and Trigger Point in their advertising may be a clue that they understand bodies. Not always, but often.
Word of mouth is helpful, too. If you know someone who had relief from pain from massage, ask for the name of their practitioner.
So, can massage therapy help carpal tunnel pain? Absolutely, yes!
IF a massage professional has a good working knowledge of what causes pain in the carpal tunnel area, he or she can make a world of difference to you! It’s NOT something commonly taught in entry-level massage classes.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is often misdiagnosed by doctors. Most of
them didn’t learn much about about muscles when they were in school
(neither did we, right?) and so when they see a patient who has complaints of discomfort in the wrist, hand and arm, the doctor will often think, “It must be carpal tunnel syndrome.”
Maybe it is carpal tunnel syndrome and maybe it’s not.
It’s more likely that you
have muscle strain or trigger points that are causing your pain. More people have pain in the carpal tunnel area that starts with muscular causes than true carpal tunnel syndrome.
So, yes! Therapeutic massage can definitely help eliminate or reduce your carpal tunnel symptoms.
Many massage therapists don’t have the training or background to understand why you have pain. They will rub on the painful area around your carpal tunnel/wrist, but you may not notice much (or any) relief.
That’s because they are working on the symptoms rather than the cause of your pain.
He or she is working where it hurts rather than working on the areas that are actually causing your pain. That’s a common problem with massage therapists.
Some just rub where it hurts and hope it will help.
Sometimes the cause is actually where the pain is, other times it’s not.
How To Interview A Massage Therapist For Carpal Tunnel Pain Relief:
Here’s how to interview a massage therapist for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome relief. Most will be happy to give you a free consultation.
First of all, don’t ask, “Do you work with people who have carpal
tunnel pain?” or, “Do you treat carpal tunnel syndrome?” Why?
Because there are many massage therapists who will say yes, even though they don’t have the training or experience to successfully treat carpal tunnel area pain. 🙁
Instead, ask him or her the following questions, and listen closely to their answers. See whether their answers make sense to you.
- What are the most common causes of carpal tunnel area pain? (The more they know, the better. There are many.)
- How will you determine why I have pain? (Will they look at posture or graph your symptoms?)
- What is your pain treatment strategy? (Where will they look for the cause(s) of your symptoms?)
- What type of massage training did you have? (Pain relief vs. relaxation.)
- What kind of massage do you specialize in? (If you see trigger point charts in their treatment room, or trigger point books or if they have the chart on their phone, it’s a good sign.)
- What muscles could be involved in my situation? (You want them to indicate your chest or neck as possibilities.)
- How long do you think it will take for me to feel better? (It might take a few sessions depending on the cause(s).)
- Will there be pain or discomfort from the massage? (Tight muscles and soft tissues can be pretty uncomfortable during the first session or so. You want any discomfort to feel appropriate rather than like it’s killing you.)
Feel free to ask additional questions. Also, ask for clarification for any answer you did not fully understand. You can also ask for success stories.
You can learn a lot on the phone but you can learn even more in person. The massage therapist may actually touch your muscles as he explains or show you trigger point pictures and that will make it even easier for you to understand.
You should experience at least some relief from symptoms during or after the first session, if the practitioner knows what they’re doing.
Sometimes when muscles are very tight, as they often are with carpal tunnel pain in the chest, arm or neck areas, there may be some discomfort during the massage. There may also be some tenderness afterward. That is because you have some areas of tight muscles and they are not yet used to someone pressing on them. It’s similar to soreness following a new exercise.
If you have any discomfort during the massage, you may perceive it as “good pain” or it may be quite intense. It will either feel appropriate or not. If it doesn’t, let the therapist know.
You may say, “That really hurts! Don’t stop!” That’s a clue the therapist is working in the correct area. It feels appropriate.
Sometimes it takes the tiniest amount of pressure to cause a LOT of discomfort! The therapist should be able to lighten up to where it’s tolerable for you.
On a pain scale of 1-10, you’d like to keep the discomfort around a 7 for therapeutic value. 1 won’t help and 10 is too much.
It really is okay for you to guide your massage therapist. She wants to know how you are feeling and responding. She wants you to feel better.
Don’t tell her where to work but do tell her where the symptoms are. A skilled therapist will know where to work based on your symptoms (not necessarily where the symptoms is.)
I believe that some discomfort during a therapeutic massage session for carpal tunnel pain is unavoidable and usually more so the first time than later visits.
When your muscles are very ‘tight’ massage can cause some uncomfortable sensations. Muscles and soft tissues that are “tight” enough to cause symptoms are just going to be tender to the touch.
Working or treating the complaining areas rather than the causing areas will cause pain that feels inappropriate and won’t help you get back to neutral. (But the areas that cause symptoms can also be very tender.)
The payoff from massage therapy for carpal tunnel pain relief can be huge when it’s provided by a skilled massage therapist who understands how bodies work.
Now you know how to interview a potential massage therapist who can help you get rid of your carpal tunnel symptoms. If you don’t get at least some relief from the first session, that’s not the practitioner for you.
If you’d like to learn more about an easy-to-use, self-help program that includes movement videos and a massage video, and more, click here to read about the Carpal Tunnel Tool Kit. I created it so you can get rid of your carpal tunnel pain naturally and forever!
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