Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Carpal Tunnel massage can Relieve Thousands of CTS Sufferers

By Tom Nicholson

Carpal tunnel syndrome, or CTS, commonly strikes thousands of people each year. Only surpassed by lower back pain, CTS is the most commonly disabling and expensive health issue in the U.S. Annually, as many as one million CTS sufferers opt for surgery, many never knowing that they can avoid surgery with the use of carpal tunnel massage instead.

This syndrome that will target a variety of different professions, and both men and women. Although it is a proven fact that CTS is more commonly found in women, a good majority of men can get it to. Some of the most commonly affected professions or hobbies for CTS include:

Hair stylists Postal clerks Massage therapists String musicians Meat packers Chefs

While these occupations are large contributors to the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome, other factors can cause its onset. These factors include:

Cigarette smoking (decreases circulation) Diabetes Pregnancy Adverse effects of birth control pills Thyroid problems Obesity Arthritis

Symptoms in most cases include tingling, numbness, and pain in the wrist, hands, and forearms. In many cases it has been known for people with a CTS condition to have the worst pain at night time, causing you not to be able to sleep at night. Some of the more serious cases of CTS lose the ability to grip simple objects, as they experience loss in strength in the hands and wrists.

Carpal tunnel happens when the median nerve in the carpal tunnel becomes compressed. This usually occurs when the transverse carpal ligament become tightens or strained, causing it to swell and put pressure on the median nerve. Because the median nerve is responsible for feeling and movement of the thumb, forefinger, middle finger, and ring finger when it becomes compressed it causes excruciating pain, tingling, and numbness. Carpal tunnel massage has been known to be an effective way to combat the pain of CTS.

There are a lot of trained massage therapists that provide CTS massage therapy, or you may provide the massage therapy yourself. It has been known that if you massage at least 20 minutes a day, especially at bedtime, the effects of CTS can be significantly smaller. Following through with these daily massages for a period of 4-6 months can drastically reduce the pain and side effects of CTS. Self-massage is quite simple, in that you have to apply pressure to the forearm, particularly the flexor muscles, and massage in short strokes that last 2 to 3 seconds each, and relief from CTS is possible.

The whole idea revolves around getting the proper stretching and relaxing sensation to alleviate the pain. In order to do this you're going to have to start doing CTS exercises. Even if it means massaging your hand, wrists, and forearms throughout the day, then you have to do it to start the healing process. Once you're back to normal, you'll still have to do them in order to prevent it from happening again. If you can get to this point then your carpal tunnel will have no chance to surface again.

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