In this week's video we're looking at carpal tunnel syndrome and what you can
do at home to help treat it so let's begin with the symptoms of carpal tunnel
syndrome which often include a pain or ache in your fingers hands or arm also
you can have numbness of the hand or pins and needles a tingling sensation in
this area you can also have weakness of the thumb and also difficulty gripping
these symptoms often start slowly and they come and go they usually worse at
night as well but why do we get carpal tunnel syndrome
well the carpal tunnel itself is a narrow passageway on the palm side of
your wrist and it's made up of bones and ligaments the median nerve runs through
the carpal tunnel and it's responsible for sensation and movement of your thumb
and first three fingers now when this nerve is squeezed whilst going through
the wrist in the carpal tunnel well that's when the symptoms of carpal
tunnel syndrome really begin now that was a super simplified explanation of it
all but it's good for you to know this before we start looking at treatments
but if you would like more information about carpal tunnel syndrome or why it
happens obviously I'm gonna leave loads more information in the description
below so feel free to click at any point in
this video so tip number 1 is all about wearing the wristlet and I know it's not the easiest
of tips because a lot of you may not have a wrist splint at home but they can
be very effective at helping to keep the restraint and reduce the pressure on the
median nerve that we just discussed now you should aim to wear the resting
wrist splint at nighttime when you sleep and you'll need to wear it for at least
four weeks before you start seeing your results now if you're interested in
purchasing one you can buy one from any pharmacy or online and it can last a
long time providing you look after them but please make sure you get the right
size and the right one for the correct arm because they're not interchangeable
now moving on to tip number two it's all about hand exercises now there's a small
amount of evidence that these exercises can actually help relieve some of the
carpal tunnel symptoms so aim to do them two to three times a day and why not
give them a go let's run through them let's begin with the wrist bend rest
your elbow on a table with your arm pointing up and wrist straight now
gently bend your wrist forward at a right angle hold for five seconds
and straighten your wrist next gently bend it backwards and hold
for another five seconds aim to do ten repetitions on each hand next up we have
the wrist lift place your palm on the table and lift
the fingers up place your other hand across the knuckles at 90 degrees and
push down as the bottom hand tries to pull up you should feel the muscles of
your forearms contracting repeat this exercise ten times on each hand now it's
time for the wrist flex keep your arms straight in front with your palm facing
down and gently bend your wrist down now use the opposite hand to press the
stretching hand back towards your body and hold for 15 to 30 seconds once
you're done straighten your wrist gently bend the stretching hand backwards and
use the opposite hand to pull the fingers back and repeat 10 times okay
we're now past the halfway point so next up we have the finger bend start with
your fingers held out straight gently bend the middle joints of your finger
down toward your upper farm and hold for five seconds aim to do ten repetitions
on each hand now it's time for the wrist stretch with the weights so holding a
light weight for example a tin of beans stretch your arm out in front of you
with your palm down slowly bend your wrist upwards and then return to the
starting position aim to do ten repetitions on each hand and try to
gradually increase the way you hold with time and the final exercise is the hand
squeeze you will need a small rubber ball for this exercise all you have to
do is squeeze a rubber ball and hold it for five seconds aim to do ten
repetitions on each hand so please do try these exercises to help ease the
pain and prevent any future injuries also please leave a comment below
letting us know how you get on I guess what we could do is our own
little mini youtube experiment to see just how effective these exercises
really are okay tip number three you need to cut down or stop doing things
that may be causing the carpal tunnel syndrome now you may already know what's
causing it but if you don't think back to yourself are you doing things
frequently which require you to bend your wrist or grab things firmly like
using tools playing a keyboard playing an instrument all of these could
potentially be a cause tip number four is all about paracetamol
ibuprofen for short-term pain relief of carpal tunnel syndrome but please
remember there's very little evidence and they're going to treat the cause of
carpal tunnel syndrome this means that it's important that you're not relying
on them for long term use for short term pain relief they can be effective also
please remember that with any medication always read the information leaflet and
always speak to your pharmacist first before taking them just so they can make
sure it is safe and suitable to take it moving on to tip number five which is
once again about pain relief remember at the start the video I said that the
symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome tend to be worse at nighttime now if this is
the case for yourself you can do a few things that could
provide temporary pain relief for example one of them is hanging your arm
out of the bed this is said to help with the pain also moving and shaking your
hand when you're in bed this can also potentially provide temporary pain
relief I really do hope that this video helps you but please remember they view
symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome are not going away they're not getting any
better they're getting worse and if treatments aren't helping that please
make an appointment to speak to your healthcare professional and that's the
end of the videos thank you for watching but please remember if you're gonna do
the exercises please leave a comment below let us know how you get on on our
little mini youtube experiment it's gonna be really useful for everyone
who's watching and if you have any of your own tips please leave a comment
below too because I'd love to read it and I'm sure everyone else watching with
to always remember you're awesome and I will see you next week
you like that sound effect Chhhh, Chhhh, Chhhh
sounds like a bus (Laughter)
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