Carpal tunnel syndrome is known to have an increased risk of flaring up in smokers. Smoking diminishes blood oxygen supply to the body, including the wrist and hand. Smoking also leads to greater problems with inflammation and the tightening up of capillaries. CTS flare-ups can therefore be reduced and better prevented if you quit smoking.
Of course, quitting smoking isn't easy, and it's an enormous challenge to smokers who want to quit. Smoking is easily one of the most addictive habits out there, such that it has been compared to heroin addiction, for example. Therefore, smokers continue to smoke even though they know it's not healthy and negatively impacts the physical health and performance. Some even do it with an "I dare you" sort of attitude, feeling that it is indeed their right to do so. And it's true that tobacco does have at least short-term benefits to smokers, which are indeed powerful or they wouldn't keep doing it. Smoking can be very enjoyable to those who do it, and can give them the ability to have some mental focus and to stay calm under pressure. Some smokers like the taste and feel that it is actually a sensual experience to smoke. To try to up the ante, so to speak, state and local governments have recently increased cigarette and other tobacco products' taxes significantly, in the hopes that this will force people to quit. However, most people have not quit because of these increased taxes, and governments at least have an additional source of income to fill their coffers. Still, even faced with these greatly increased taxes, many smokers still continue to smoke.
It can also be difficult to quit smoking because no two people who share the habit are entirely alike, so that one program that will enable a person to quit smoking will not be of help to another person. To that end, many different methods have been formulated to help people quit smoking.
One product on the market that has helped many smokers quit is the nicotine patch. The nicotine patch delivers a small but steady dose of nicotine in transdermal fashion, into the bloodstream so that the smoker who is trying to quit as their nicotine cravings subdued somewhat. It's thought that if nicotine is continually supplied to the body (even though a different method and at a lower dosage than that gotten through cigarettes), it takes the edge off the cravings just enough that smokers stand a good chance of quitting smoking. Some nicotine patch programs utilize a "step down" method, whereby decreasing dosages of nicotine or delivered over a period of time as the program continues. And indeed, the nicotine patch has been shown to be quite effective, with up to 55% of people using them having the ability to quit. However, patches aren't cheap and many people don't like having to wear them. In addition, they can be irritating to the skin, and it can be inconvenient to have to remember to change the patch every day. Beyond that, the nicotine patch only addresses the nicotine addiction, not the other reasons smokers smoke.
Other people take the psychological approach to quitting smoking. They may do a "build down" program where they slowly start smoking one to five fewer cigarettes per day than normal. Once they become comfortable with a new level, they lower it a little bit more, until they reach the point where they only smoke a few cigarettes per day and from there go on to quit. Others have quit by keeping an unopened pack in their garage or house and then making themselves quit cold (knowing that the pack is always there "just in case").
There are also those who have developed supplements, whether herbal or other "natural" supplements, to help people quit smoking. Again, these do work for some people, but quitting itself is a crapshoot for many smokers, and no one method works for everyone.
If you have trouble tunnel syndrome and you don't want to try to quit smoking to help resolve it, there are also exercises you can do that will diminish the symptoms if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, and that will help prevent it if you don't have it yet. In addition, doing the exercises even if you have carpal tunnels syndrome may help reverse damage even if it's already been done. Give them a try; you can look them up and try them out to see if this reduces your symptoms.
Of course, quitting smoking isn't easy, and it's an enormous challenge to smokers who want to quit. Smoking is easily one of the most addictive habits out there, such that it has been compared to heroin addiction, for example. Therefore, smokers continue to smoke even though they know it's not healthy and negatively impacts the physical health and performance. Some even do it with an "I dare you" sort of attitude, feeling that it is indeed their right to do so. And it's true that tobacco does have at least short-term benefits to smokers, which are indeed powerful or they wouldn't keep doing it. Smoking can be very enjoyable to those who do it, and can give them the ability to have some mental focus and to stay calm under pressure. Some smokers like the taste and feel that it is actually a sensual experience to smoke. To try to up the ante, so to speak, state and local governments have recently increased cigarette and other tobacco products' taxes significantly, in the hopes that this will force people to quit. However, most people have not quit because of these increased taxes, and governments at least have an additional source of income to fill their coffers. Still, even faced with these greatly increased taxes, many smokers still continue to smoke.
It can also be difficult to quit smoking because no two people who share the habit are entirely alike, so that one program that will enable a person to quit smoking will not be of help to another person. To that end, many different methods have been formulated to help people quit smoking.
One product on the market that has helped many smokers quit is the nicotine patch. The nicotine patch delivers a small but steady dose of nicotine in transdermal fashion, into the bloodstream so that the smoker who is trying to quit as their nicotine cravings subdued somewhat. It's thought that if nicotine is continually supplied to the body (even though a different method and at a lower dosage than that gotten through cigarettes), it takes the edge off the cravings just enough that smokers stand a good chance of quitting smoking. Some nicotine patch programs utilize a "step down" method, whereby decreasing dosages of nicotine or delivered over a period of time as the program continues. And indeed, the nicotine patch has been shown to be quite effective, with up to 55% of people using them having the ability to quit. However, patches aren't cheap and many people don't like having to wear them. In addition, they can be irritating to the skin, and it can be inconvenient to have to remember to change the patch every day. Beyond that, the nicotine patch only addresses the nicotine addiction, not the other reasons smokers smoke.
Other people take the psychological approach to quitting smoking. They may do a "build down" program where they slowly start smoking one to five fewer cigarettes per day than normal. Once they become comfortable with a new level, they lower it a little bit more, until they reach the point where they only smoke a few cigarettes per day and from there go on to quit. Others have quit by keeping an unopened pack in their garage or house and then making themselves quit cold (knowing that the pack is always there "just in case").
There are also those who have developed supplements, whether herbal or other "natural" supplements, to help people quit smoking. Again, these do work for some people, but quitting itself is a crapshoot for many smokers, and no one method works for everyone.
If you have trouble tunnel syndrome and you don't want to try to quit smoking to help resolve it, there are also exercises you can do that will diminish the symptoms if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, and that will help prevent it if you don't have it yet. In addition, doing the exercises even if you have carpal tunnels syndrome may help reverse damage even if it's already been done. Give them a try; you can look them up and try them out to see if this reduces your symptoms.
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