Is there other things you can use for you hand for possible carpal tunnel?

Question

The docter suspects carpal tunnel and having me wear a wrist brace. But the job I have as a secretary the thing is annoying and limiting me from doing certain things such as signing my name and scanning I scan into a sheet fed scanner I know the purpose is to not bend wrist but it just gets into way..

thanks for listening

Answer 1

I have a history of carpal tunnel, and have always used the wrist splints (which as you say are a pain to use). So when my teen age daughter got it, I automatically set her up to see the doctor to get her own splint. However, just before her appointment, her chiropractor offered to fix it, saying her elbow was actually out of place. The chiropractor adjusted it, and it was better immediately.

Answer 2

I am physician who injured my right wrist due to overuse in 1990 and I have suffered with carpal tunnel. In fact my wrist hurts as I type this and at times the pain is such that I am not able to sleep at night. The first thing that I suggest to people is to take an anti inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen 200 mg three tablets four times daily although with WalMart's new $4 prescription program one piroxicam daily is as effective as twelve ibuprofen daily and less expensive. I do not recommend a splint during the day not simply as it interferes with activity but because in my experience it makes things worse not better. I do recommend an elastic wrap around the wrist which does allow you to work as I am wearing one as I type this and every pharmacy should carry these. I prefer those with a 'loop' which allows me to put it on without asking my wife Lori for help as the loop holds it loosely in place while I velcro the elastic wrap in place. These allow you to adjust the tension (tightness) of the wrap and in my experience it helps if I wrap the wrist tighter when it hurts more. If despite the anti inflammatory medication and the elastic wrap during the day someone still has discomfort then I will suggest that the wrist be placed in a splint during sleep. Surgery is a last resort not because it does not work but because the carpal tunnel nerve entrapment tends to recur and by the way you may have carpal tunnel tendonitis without nerve entrapment. I hope that this has been helpful and I wish you the very best of luck and health.

Answer 3

First off, a chiropractor will tell you anything to get your money! So don't go to one of those quacks! Your doctor is a medical specialist, and has a degree in real medicine! If you have carpal tunnel syndrome then you had better do what your doctor advises you, unless you want to have surgery for the correction, which may have to be done in the long run.

Answer 4

In addition to wrist splints, try voice to text software. This will allow you to speak and let the computer do the typing. Here a couple links below.

http://www.digitalriver.com/v2.0-img/operations/scansoft/site/html/dragon/Preferred_9.htm

http://www.bumpersoft.com/Utilities/Voice_Recognition_and_Text_To_Speech/Review_943_index.htm