What You Can Do To Help Prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

 If your job or favorite hobby puts strain on your hands and wrists, you might wonder if you have carpal tunnel syndrome. Maybe you’ve got some symptoms, like tingling or numbness in your fingers, and you want to make sure it doesn’t get worse. The good news is that there’s a lot you can do to protect yourself and prevent your symptoms from getting worse.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by pressure on your median nerve. This nerve gives you feeling in your thumb and all your fingers except your pinky. When the median nerve goes through your wrist, it passes through a narrow path -- the carpal tunnel -- that’s made of bone and ligament. If you get any swelling in your wrist, this tunnel gets squeezed and pinches your median nerve, which causes your symptoms.

There’s no one, surefire way preventing carpal tunnel syndrome. But if you reduce stress and strain on your hands and wrists as much as you can, you may keep it from getting worse.

What You Can Do To Help Prevent It

Here are some things you can try to prevent CTS from happening:

Maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Don’t smoke: It interferes with blood flow and makes CTS worse

Keep your weight down: Obesity can slow down the speed of nerve messages to the hand and can contribute to a lack of physical activity, which can increase CTS risk

Avoid sleeping in positions that cause your wrists to bend or curl.

Keep your hands warm to prevent stiffness. If you work in a place that’s cold, consider wearing fingerless gloves.

Loosen your grip and force when you’re working with your hands. 

Chances are when you write, you hold the pen or pencil too tight, or when you type, you push the keys hard.

Take frequent, quick breaks from repetitive activities to rest your hands or change their position.

Stretch your hands, fingers, and wrists often, rotating them in circles and flexing and extending your palms and fingers.

Improve your posture and body mechanics at your work station. Pay attention to your use of the computer monitor, chair, keyboard, and mouse or other equipment and tools.

What To Do If You’re Already Experiencing Symptoms

If you’re already having some problems with CTS, here are things you can do to help it and reduce pain or discomfort:

Apply cold packs to your wrists to reduce pain and inflammation.

Use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or naproxen (Aleve).

Wear a wrist splint at night. You can find them at most drugstores and you don’t need a prescription.

If you try these options, or any others, and find they’re not working for you, don’t hesitate to talk to your doctor. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, or cortisone injections may be an option.

The decision to have surgery is based on the severity of your symptoms. Many people who undergo surgery have an improvement in their CTS symptoms, but recovery can be a slow process.