Here are ten great tips for office workers, typists and keyboardists to help prevent or eliminate pain in your carpal tunnel area:
1. Keep your elbows as comfortably close to your waist as possible when you are working at a desk or table. Reach when you have to, not out of habit. Reaching aggravates muscles. Allowing your elbows to be next to your body (instead of out in front) avoids muscle strain and pain.
2. Use a chair and desk or tray that fits you. Your ankles, knees, hips and elbows should all be at about 90 degree angles when you are seated. Use a lumbar support or your own muscles to sit upright and hold your head over your spine. A rolled or folded towel behind your waist can be a fine lumbar support.
3. Keep your wrists straight when you type. Pretend your wrists are extensions of your arms without joints. Let your straight wrists “float” above the keyboard.
4. Get strong muscles and a balanced body by taking classes in tai chi, core strengthening or yoga. A strong back makes a happy body. A happy body does not have carpal tunnel pain.
5. Open up! Stretch frequently in the opposite direction of the position you are usually in. Our muscles get shortened and stuck in the positions we use the most, unless we take care to do the opposite movements on a regular basis.
6. Feed your brain and body. Improve the quality of food you eat and/or take a really good vitamin and mineral supplement. A body that gets all the nutrients it needs feels better, functions better and can recover faster from injury. Be sure to drink lots of water, too. You need more than you probably think.
7. Use a speakerphone, headset or ear buds to avoid an aggravated neck which will cause pain in your carpal tunnel area as well as headaches and other complaints. If you’re using a laptop, also use a freestanding keyboard. It doesn’t cost much and gives you much more flexibility for positioning. Use the laptop as your monitor only.
8. Get rubbed the right way. Have a professional massage or do it your self. Massage gets blood flowing through tight tissues in your hands, wrists and arms, promotes muscle health and boosts your immune system. Here’s how to find a massage therapist who can help you.
9. Do things differently. We have several hundred muscles and most of us use only the same sixty+ most of the day. Hold your pen between your first and middle fingers. Mouse with your other hand. Sleep on the opposite side of the bed. Cross the opposite leg. Sit on the other side of the couch.
10. Improve your breathing. When you breathe full and long and deep, you exercise and release muscles around your neck, ribs and shoulders. Those muscles are attached to your arms. More beneficial oxygen reaches your cells and that includes the cells in your hands, wrists and arms.
When you take care of your body, muscles and arms with these ten strategies you may be able get rid of your carpal tunnel pain naturally!
If you’d like a little more help, I’ve created a simple course for you. It’s basic and may just be all you need to completely get rid of your carpal tunnel symptoms forever!