What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome??

Well first lets look at what the carpal tunnel is. A short video to help explain.

So you can see what is happening. The Carpal Tunnel contains both nerves, and tendons. So if the Carpal Tunnel or the tendons or the nerve are damaged or swollen, pressure will be put on the Nerve. And putting pressure on a Nerve will cause all sorts of strange things to appear to happen.

A pinched nerve will often cause pain and discomfort. And a pinched or pressured nerve in the Carpal Tunnel is no different. Pinching a nerve causes the Brain to receive mixed or incorrect signals from that Nerve ending.

WARNING

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the pain associated with a squashed or pinched nerve. To Cure Carpal Tunnel Syndrome it is NOT a simple case of taking the pressure of the nerve. That will fix the symptoms. BUT there is usually something else causing the pressure on the Nerve in the first place. If you are under going surgery to release the pressure, be aware that the pressure on the nerve while coming from the Carpal Tunnel may actually be caused by something completely different. You need to identify WHY the Carpal Tunnel area is swollen. Fix that Swelling and in most cases, Carpal Tunnel Pain is GONE.

As well as the normal pressure being put on the nerve by swelling, you also have the pressure been put on the nerve by the constant movement of the tendons. As the tendons move through the Carpal Tunnel the will irritate the nerve and cause tingling sensations.

So you can see what happens.

If you work say with high vibration machinery. The carpal tunnel is inflamed. You have the tingling sensation in your fingers.
What happens when you go to use that jackhammer??
Well the already inflamed area just gets more and more aggravated. And constant vibration of the jackhammer is essentially vibrating the inflamed area against the nerve. It is like having a cut on your leg, then rubbing it back and forth constantly. Will the cut ever heal? I doubt it. The constant rubbing doesn't allow the body to heal the area.

How about for someone that uses a computer a lot??

Now I do a lot of typing in a day, and I'm sure there are lot of other people that do way more typing than me. However what happens in this case?

Well it is basically the same as the above. Except instead of vibration, the irritation of the nerve is from the constant movement of the tendons. When you type the tendons are moving a LOT. There is an excess of high repetitive short movements of the tendons. And when you have a swollen area around that Median Nerve. Guess what that constant movement does?? YEP, aggravates the problem.

Our bodies have taken 1,000,000's of years to develop as they are. And all of a sudden in the last decade or so we are asking the body to do things that it just wasn't designed for. Constant repetitive movement is only something that has happened in the last few years. High vibration environments have only been around for 50 years or so. Constant periods of not moving the hands has also only recently happened with the advent of driving long distances etc.

Hope that helps you to understand what Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is.