5 Ways to Prevent Carpal Tunnel: Pain Relief, Treatment & Prevention

Here are 5 ways to prevent carpal tunnel. If you’ve constantly suffered from pain, numbness, and sometimes tingling in your hands and arms, this may be something called carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome, a.k.a median nerve compression, is a condition that causes numbness, tingling, or weakness in a person’s hand.

It happens during tingling, itching numbness in your palm, thumb, or index and middle fingers, weakness in your hand, and trouble holding things. You may have Carpal Tunnel syndrome.

5 Ways to Prevent Carpal Tunnel

In this article, we’ll be listing five things you can do that can help you prevent and alleviate carpal tunnel syndrome. So to help you alleviate that pain, lets get into it. Be sure to check out our other health guides to keep healthy!

Spider Hand Exercises

Remember the itsy-bitsy spider that went up the water spout? Well, the first exercise on this list is something similar to that. Start by having your hands together in the prayer position.

Spread your fingers as far apart as you can, then steeple the fingers by separating your palms while keeping your fingers together.

This exercise stretches out the palmar fascia, which is a part of the carpal tunnel structures and the median nerve. With an exercise as simple and as low-key as this, you wouldn’t have any excuses not to do it.

Hand Shakes

This exercise is good for a lot of things, and it’s pretty simple. Shake your hands like you would when you’ve just finished washing them, and you’re trying to get the water off without wiping them off.

Doing this for 1-2 minutes every hour to keep the flexor muscles in your hands active helps keep the median nerve from cramping and getting tight throughout the day. You won’t even actively think about doing it once you get into it habitually since it’s so simple.

Extended Arm Stretching

This one requires quite a lot more space than the other two but is worth it. Extend one arm straight towards the direction you are facing while making sure the elbows are straight, and the wrists are extended, and your fingers are facing the floor.

Spread your fingers slightly and pull down to apply pressure using your other hand. Stretch your fingers and wrist as far as you can without it being too uncomfortable and hold the position for at least 20 seconds.

Do this to your other hand and repeat 2-3 times every 2-3 hours per day. After a few weeks of doing this, the significant improvement in your wrist’s flexibility will be clear and felt.

Softer Touch

Sometimes you don’t even have to exercise. Sometimes we get too harsh with our body, and it becomes a daily routine, a part of our daily lives; and we don’t even think about how much it’s taking a toll on us.

Gripping your tools and items you’re taking with you doesn’t have to be done tight. In most cases, holding it firmly is enough. Try this with the little things like when using your keyboard or prying things apart. Try to be more gentle, and it might do you wonders.

Taking a Break

The last but definitely not the least advice on this list is to take a break. Sometimes we get so focused on what we’re doing that we don’t realize how much of a toll it’s already taking on our body.

Stepping away from work to bend or stretch your hands is perfectly understandable, especially if your nature of work is labor-intensive. Breaks are a MUST if you use tools that vibrate or make you apply a lot of force with your fingers, hands, arms, and wrists.

Taking a break is great not only to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome but also to help your body and your mind relax when it’s under constant stress and pressure. An ideal break is a 5-10 minute break every 1-2 hours because it can serve both as a mental reset and a destresser.