16 September 2022

How to relieve and avoid carpal tunnel

TL;DR: don’t work cold, hungry, or dehydrated. Get up and stretch now and then. If your CT flares up, raise your arms above your head and stretch them gently.

Movement

As soon as you wake up, go outside and do some light stretches or exercises to get the blood flowing. This will discourage a prolonged spell of half-awake slouching at the beginning of the work day and make you more likely to stick to your stretching schedule.

Warmth

Turn the heating on. Clothes don’t work as well – the heat has to be ambient for the blood vessels to dilate (or something).

Fed & Hydrated

Drink some water or tea. Eat some hot food with some fat and protein in it.

Take Breaks

Learn to sense when you need a quick break and a stretch. Every 40 minutes works well.

Relief

If you do start to feel a CT flare up, the best method I’ve found by far to relieve the symptoms—and really, to cure the disease—is to raise your arms in the air and gently stretch your arms and shoulders. This lets the blood drain out of the area around the carpal tunnel, and should immediately reduce the swelling that’s compressing the nerve.