Carpal tunnel syndrome

Last month I was at the BPMS meeting when Scott, one of the members who has been there a while, asked me about the time I blogged about carpal tunnel syndrome. Befuddled, I told him that I had no personal experiences with it, but had a couple clients who had it and after the surgery they were left on disability for life. That visibly brought him down a bit. He's been diagnosed with carpal tunnel and was hoping for some words of encouragement. To that point my experiences were anything BUT encouraging.

If you were wondering what exactly Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is, here's a definition from answers.com:

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Definition

Carpal tunnel syndrome is an entrapment neuropathy of the wrist. It occurs when the median nerve, which runs through the wrist and enervates the thumb, pointer finger, middle finger and the thumb side of the ring finger, is aggravated because of compression. Symptoms include numbness, tingling and pain in the fingers the median nerve sensitizes. Some people have difficulty grasping items and may have pain radiating up the arm. Carpal tunnel syndrome is common in people who work on assembly lines, doing heavy lifting and packing involving repetitive motions. Other repetitive movements suching are often implicated in cause carpal tunnel syndrome, however some clinical evidence contradicts this association. Additional causes of the syndrome include pregnancy, diabetes, obesity or simply wrist anatomy in which the carpal tunnel is narrow. Treatment includes immobilization with a splint or in severe cases surgery to release the compression of the median nerve.

Back to my story....

A couple weeks later I was visiting my friend Jeff. I told him that my hands felt cramped and slightly painful all the time. He asked me some questions and notified me that I had the beginning symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. He recognized it because HE was on the same boat, but he was going to tell me how to beat it...

Carpal tunnel syndrome is the result from repetitive movements, hence the alternate name "repetitive motion disease." So I would need to start some new exercises to stave off the possible future disability.

I asked about the surgery that one of my clients had. Jeff's response, "NEVER get the surgery." It seems the carpal tunnel surgery is iffy at best can leave you in worse shape. No. A new exercise regiment will do the trick. "You know those steel Chinese health balls you roll in your hands? Get the biggest pair that will present a challenge to roll, but your hands can handle. Roll them in your hands in alternate directions. It'll KILL when you start, but after a while, it'll be easier, and the pain WILL let up."

Taking my long time friend's advice I went to Flushing within days after our discussion. I found a shop in the Busy Bee Mall (or whatever they call it these days) that sold Zippos, Statues, knives, and the health balls! I tested out the medium ones. They offered no challenge. I tried the larger ones (50mm), and I could hold them, but it was killing me to roll them around. Sold. I bought two pairs, one for the office and one for home.

It's been weeks now since I started and I am not experiencing any more pain. I've been told that you don't need to use these if you can't find them. You can try one of those squishy stress relievers, or any number of other devices meant to strengthen the hands. However, I feel that the motion of each finger as you roll the balls in your palm actually limbers your hands batter than the other devices.

In conclusion, if you think you might have carpal tunnel, or just want to make sure you never do, try getting the largest pair of Chinese Health Balls that your hand can hold, and start rotating them. Clockwise / Counter-Clockwise. You WILL notice a difference.