Looking for ways to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome? Well,
this is the video for you. Hey, everybody is Doctor Jo, and cute
Kali in her ducky jammies. And today, I'm going to show you
some stretches and exercises to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome.
So let's get started. So the carpal tunnel in the wrist here
can often get irritated, inflamed, sometimes get some
scar tissue build up, and that nerve that runs through there,
that median nerve can get irritated. So some great simple
stretches to kind of relieve that carpal tunnel syndrome. Or
you can do at a desk, you know, if you're getting it from doing
a lot of desk, computer work, these are really simple and easy
to be able to do at your desk. So the first one is just, I call
it a prayer stretch is great to stretch both sides, even if you
just have carpal tunnel syndrome in one hand, I would say maybe
go ahead and stretch both sides. So with the prayer stretch,
you're just going to bring your hands together, your elbows can
just be kind of at a small distance apart. And then what
you're doing is just then slowly bringing your elbows out and
your hands down into a stretch. So the elbows go out, you're
getting a nice stretch underneath here in that wrist
area. So if you are super painful, you might only be able
to get to here, that's okay. Eventually, you want to try and
get that nice good stretch in there. So holding it for 30
seconds. So if it's really painful and 30 seconds is just
too long, come back up. You want to feel the tension, slightly
uncomfortable, but not super painful while you're doing the
stretch. So again, bring those elbows out coming down, try and
keep the fingers pointed upward. So it's not really this way, not
this way, you're still going to get a stretch, but it's a
slightly different stretch, and then holding it right there. So
doing that three times holding it for 30 seconds for each one.
So the next stretch is a little bit of a combination, move. This
one again, in the beginning, you might want to just try and
modify it a little bit, because it gets a really good stretch.
So you're gonna put your arm straight out with your palm up,
then you're going to come underneath and grab your thumb
here, and then pull your thumb downwards as you bring your
whole hand down. So I'm getting a great stretch on that carpal
tunnel area right there. So again, grabbing that thumb and
kind of pulling downwards like that, keep that elbow straight,
and getting that nice stretch through there. So again, you
might feel a little bit of tingling, that median or getting
a little press there, that's okay, as long as once you stop
the stretch, then that feeling and that tingling kind of stops,
and you get that sensation back there. So this is another 30
second hold, holding that stretch for 30 seconds, keeping
that arm out this way, pulling that thumb kind of downwards. If
you've got some arthritis in your thumb, maybe hold off on
that one. And I'll show you another stretch in a little bit
without the thumb. So don't irritate your thumb during this
stretch if it's uncomfortable there. But getting that nice
stretch. Like I said, I'd stretch both sides if you can,
if you have time, even if the other one's not really bothering
you, just to kind of work both sides. The next one is just
going to be tendon glides. So the tendons of the fingers kind
of go through the wrist area here. So getting a glide through
there is really nice, because a lot of times with that carpal
tunnel syndrome, there's some adhesions or scar tissue build
up from a lot of inflammation in there. And that's what sometimes
can cause that compression as well. So just kind of holding
your hand this way. And all the tendon guides for the fingers
are is you're just going to curl your fingers down this way, all
the way in. So you can see this way, and then come all the way
back up really extending those fingers wide. And so curling
down this way, and then coming back up. So it can be a
continuous motion, you don't have to really pause, but not
really going fast, really let those tendons work and get those
glides in there. So maybe you know, just five to 10.
Whatever's comfortable, if you want to do it for time, do as
many as you comfortably can in a 30 second time period. So just
curling down, and then coming back up really making sure
you're getting the curl as you go, not just up and down like
that. So again, that's a super easy one to be able to do. The
next one is going to be modified median nerve glide. Again, the
median nerve is the one that's usually affected in the carpal
tunnel syndrome. You can do bigger glides, but when you're
first starting off, I'd kind of do this modified one, because
when you're working the nerve and you're gliding the nerve,
nerves are pretty fragile vessels, so they can get
irritated pretty quickly. So I would just do maybe 10 reps of
these once, maybe twice a day, but really just kind of see how
you feel with them because you can do too many. So I would I
do, less is better than more. So just bringing my hand up here,
my elbows about shoulder width height, it doesn't have to be
exact. My palm is facing my head and so I'm just gonna imagine
that there's a string tied
to my finger to my head. And then as I straighten up my arm,
my head is going with it and then straightening out, and then
when I come back, it comes back up. So they're just kind of
moving together. And this is just kind of a very nice
modification of the median nerve glide just to really get it
moving. Again, you're gliding it, because if it's got some
adhesions, or if it's just inflamed and irritated, you want
that area to move to help get a circulation and get the healing
in there. So again, with these, really probably just 10 to start
off with maybe even not more than that ever, once, maybe
twice a day, as long as you don't feel like it's getting
more irritated. And again, I would work both sides if it was
me, just depending on how much time you have. So the next one
is going to be a wrist flexor stretch, the flexor muscles
here. So this will kind of be the modified version if the
thumb one is a little bit too uncomfortable. You can also do
it this way. So now this time my palm is going to be down. And
then I'm going to bring my hand up kind of into a stop sign
position, and then take my other hand and just pull up this way.
So let me switch hands so you can see that a little bit better
some of my palm is down this time, I'm going up into that
stop sign position. You might be getting a stretch already with
just that. But if you need a little bit more, take that other
hand and just gently pull those fingers towards you to get that
nice, you'll feel that stretch maybe all the way into your
elbow because those muscles in the wrist those flexors and
extensors go all the way into the elbow there. This is a hold
it for 30 seconds, stretch, relax and doing that three
times. If you are next to a wall and you want to do both at the
same time, you can place your hands against the wall and get
that same stretch so you can just work everything at the same
time. So there you have it. Those were ways to relieve
carpal tunnel syndrome. If you'd like to check out some of my
other videos, click on the link up there. And don't forget to
subscribe by clicking down there. And remember, be safe,
have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.