Carpal Tunnel Prevention

There are several ways to prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

There are some carpal tunnel exercises at the bottom of the page.

Lets talk Carpal Tunnel Prevention .  after all Prevention is worth a pound of cure. but it is not a lot of good if you already have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Ergonomic Products.
Lets start with ergonomics. This is the environment around you, the things you interact with every day. There are really lots and lots of different ares where Ergonomics can influence Carpal Tunnel. However we will stick to the basics. Posture, wrist position and high vibration. Depending on your work place will depend on the best ways to attack the problem. If you are like me and have a job that has lots of sitting and typing. Then you need to remember these things.
1. Posture, never slump especially while typing.
2. Do not rest your wrist or hands while typing or using a mouse.


If you work in a high vibration environment then you need to figure out a way to relieve the high vibration aspect of your workplace. This is a little harder said than done however consider
1. support products, gloves, padded gloves etc.
2. How you are using the machine, is your wrist position in the correct place. With a simple adjustment of the wrist you can relax a lot of the pressure on the wrist and carpal tunnel.
3. Alternative work, just ask the boss, you might find he is more than happy to offer some form of alternative work.

Rest, breaks from repetitive strain.
Seems pretty obvious, take a break and relax, stretch and generally relax for a few minutes. but how hard is it really?? I know it is very hard. Stopping working when it is piling up behind you, when the deadline is fast approaching, when your on a roll and just want to get something down on paper.
IT is VERY important to take "micro breaks" that is a little term that coined. Micro breaks is a VERY short break especially from typing. Only lasts about 30 sec to one minute, but just gives that short break from a potentially Carpal Tunnel Destroying routine. These micro breaks should also be combined with a short exercise, so stop, stretch and move. This is important no matter what job or routine you are in. Typing, Jackhammer, assembly line work. Just keep it short and simple and often, that is the secret with Micro Breaks, short and often.

Stretches
Stretches do lots of things in your body. You see every major athlete warm up. They always stretch and have a warm up and cool down after every game or exercise. WHY? it prevents injury. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is no different. It can be prevented with the same program. Stretches and warm ups, the loosens tendons, gets blood tot eh area and generally helps the area work better.

Exercises
Exercises help strengthen the body and a stronger body is less prone to injury. It is very important to strengthen the hand and wrist. in a lot of cases just eh stretches and rest breaks will do that. However for long term prevention it is important to have good mussel tone in and around the upper body, arms and wrists. I'm not talking body building mussels, but just well balanced mussels.

Diet and nutrition.
Diet and Nutrition play a HUGE part in bodies ability to heal and function. There are a lot of different nutrients that your body needs to heals and prevent injuries to the Carpal Tunnel. I'm going to tell you to get onto a vegan diet and eat only carrots grown from the south side of the hill and picked at midnight.
I'm not a complete diet and nutrition nut. But there are some things you can do to help. There are vitamins and minerals that will help with the prevention or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome issues.
You need to concentrate on the different supplements that will help with tendons, movement, flexibility, and nerves.
Look at supplementing your diet with the following.
Multi Vitamin - just to make sure you have all necessary vitamins (one without IRON)
Kelp, Primrose Oil and Manganese - These are very helpful for Nerves
Vitamin A and E - Antioxidants
St Johns Wort - for circulation
Rhus toxicodendron - helps with stiffness in joints.

The above should help you with preventing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, you can also use these to help with healing. However we have a whole section on Curing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome using Supplements. This is just for helping to prevent the issues in the first place. Or if you have had Carpal Tunnel then to help you avoid any future problems.