Stretching Gets Rid Of Carpal Tunnel Pain!

Stretching gets rid of carpal tunnel pain and I can prove it!

Well, it might not get rid of every single case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome because there are several causes for pain in your wrist, hand and arm (You will find them in the Causes Category here at Carpal Tunnel Pain Relief.)

But here’s a great success story that happens all the time:

The woman who cleans the office building where I work told me a month or so ago that she was developing “carpal tunnel syndrome” and so was her friend because her friend had the same, exact symptoms!

She told me the symptoms were pain and tingling in her hand and wrist and then, she said, “It travels up my arm.”  I explained that more likely it was traveling DOWN her arm.  She carries the trash, vacuums the floors and is always using her arm and chest muscles.

You have muscles in your arms.  They can get tight.  They DO get tight.  (And so can the muscles in your hands.)

When muscles tighten up they press on nerves.  Then you will get carpal tunnel-like symptoms in your hands, wrists and arms.  Nerves don’t like pressure like that so they cause symptoms.

How should you stretch for carpal tunnel pain?

I showed her how to stretch.  Guess in which

direction you should stretch?

Exactly the opposite of the one you work in.

I showed her how to raise her straight arm up and back to get a good stretch through her arm and chest muscles.  And, to do it with her hand open like a star and her thumb pointed away from her, toward the wall behind her.

And, when you do it, if you want a little more stretch, tilt the back of your hand toward the floor so your palm faces the ceiling.  It will look like you are holding up the world.

Do this slowly and thoughtfully so you can feel what’s happening.  You will probably feel stretching in some areas; those are the tight areas that are most likely to need to be stretched.

If you can’t do all the parts of this stretch right now, don’t worry.  That just means your muscles are a little tight.  But it’s a good idea to massage your arm muscles or have massage to help them relax as well as thoughtfully stretching.

Back to the Housekeeper with Carpal Tunnel Pain…

She caught up with me a couple of days ago to tell me, “It worked!  Every time I start to feel pain in my hand I stop and stretch just like you showed me.  And it goes right away!”

She said, “You cured my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!”  Well, actually, I didn’t.  I only shared some information that I figured would be useful since bodies work in logical ways.

The Housekeeper is the one who took action.  That’s why her carpal tunnel symptoms aren’t bothering her anymore.

Sometimes the muscles pressing on nerves are located in the side of the neck.  But because I could actually see the Housekeeper’s posture I knew she didn’t have a forward-head posture.

If you have a “forward head” that will require a little work to strengthen your upper back and the back of your neck to get your head back where it belongs (<– that link goes to an article with directions.)

Stretching can be great medicine for carpal tunnel pain when you stretch in the opposite direction of the one you are usually in.