Is there any way of getting relief from carpal tunnel besides surgery?

Question

I have terrible pain in my wrist and was just wondering if anyone knew of any temporary remedies for carpal tunnel. Thanks!

Answer 1

Yea,get a wrist support and some inflammatory pills ask your doc. to give u some at least that is what helped me, I don't wear, or take anything anymore.

Answer 2

Dear Happy:

Most of the time (over 95% of the time) when I have examined people who has been told them have or may have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), their finger, hand, wrist and forearm problems are due to something else. CTS is just that, a syndrome, a "diagnosis" of convenience to tell a patient they have a problem which they will recognize the name of, but which is non-specific. A syndrome is a diagnosis based on a patient having a few symptoms out of possibly many, for a problem which the examining doctor is not willing or able to find a more specific cause. People diagnosed with CTS and those who have had CTS surgery with a poor outcome can often be treated conservatively at an out-patient clinic, using conservative and non-invasive physical medical treatments to obtain satisfactory results. Surgey is a last resort after eveything else has failed.

There are temporary remedies for wrist pain, depending on what is causing the wrist pain. However be warned. Putting a topical balm or ointment on the wrist will not cure carpal tunnel syndrome and will at best only hide the symptoms. In the long run, if the cause of the wrist pain is not treated the problem will just continue to get worse until you may actually require heroic and invasive surgical intervention.

Wrist pain, unless due to an urgent medical emergency such as a gross fracture/dislocation, infection, tumor, et cetera, is often due to poor work habits or overuse of the hand, wrist, forearms and elbows. Wrist pain is often due to a partially dislocated lunate (wrist bone), thus treatment would be based on setting the wrist back into proper alignment. It may be due to poor work habits or sleep habits, thus treatment would consist of you correcting the activities which caused the wrist pain and doing other activities and habits which you make you improve. You have long-term overuse of the muscles and tendons of the forearm (attach to the elbow and hand and fingers which evoke wrist pan when you use and move the the wrist, hand and fingers move). Treatment might require manual treatment to the involved soft tissues (fascia, muscles, tendons, et cetera), along with therapeutic ultrasound to soften "scar" tissue and reduce local inflammation (pain, tenderness to touch, swelling, redness, focal abnormal warmth or burning sensation, lack of function) and other passive modalities, as needed, and some carefully designed therapeutic exercises. You may have some type of compartment syndrome in the forearm or near the wrist which would need to be corrected.

Because pain is a warning something is wrong, and seldom the actual problem you should be concerned about, you will need to have someone find out what is actually causing the wrist pain. CTS is not mysterious and can be ruled in or out in 3 to 5 minutes, during a good routine physical examination. CTS, when it is real, if due to a decreased space within the "carpal tunnel", on the palmar side of the wrist. This may be due to a displaced wrist bone (the tunnel collapes as a result) or to a cyst or mass, or due to thickened ligaments overlying the carpal tunnel, inflammation putting pressure on contents within the space, et cetera. The wrist may hurt due to referred pain from somewhere else, such as the neck or shoulder girdle. The pain may be due to a chemical reaction, metabolic problem, blood or endocrine problem, an infection or other more exotic and rare problems.

Your supervising doctor should only due surgery as a last resort, when everything else fails. Again I must repeat that surgery is permanent and cannot be undone. If the dianosis is wrong, and it often is, people will have short term gains and then have the problems returns within a few months or after a year or two. The good thing about surgery is that if you do have CTS you have had nearly immediate improvement which will continue to get better as you recover and receive post-surgical therapy.

Sincerely yours, Dr. H

Answer 3

First thing to get rid of carpel tunnel pain, is to be away from the inciting work giving you this pain.
Secondly before going for surgery you can look at the option of splints. Then steroid injections and physical therapy.

As a last resort surgery. All this require, you should see your docotor asap.

If you want further information you can look at this website.


http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/carpal_tunnel.html

Good luck.

Answer 4

take up boxing. strengthen those wrists