If your job requires excessive use of your hands or an underlying medical condition, you have a higher chance of straining your wrist. The carpal tunnel in front of your wrist joint can swell up, putting pressure on your median nerve.
As a result, you can start developing mild numbness and tingling sensation in your thumb and fingers.
While the tingling might seem harmless initially, the syndrome can worsen progressively over time. Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce your wrist swelling and pain for carpal tunnel relief.
Besides treating the underlying cause, you have to reduce carpal tunnel symptoms to prevent worsening in the future too. Keep reading to find 8 ways to get carpal tunnel relief in the following article.
Causes of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Before we can jump to carpal tunnel treatment, let us first look at the risk factors for the syndrome.
- Extended exposure to vibrating power hand tools
- Continuous flexion while using mouse or keyboard
- Overextension of wrist from playing any instrument
- Trauma or fracture to your wrist joint
- Fluid retention during pregnancy
- Thyroid dysfunction
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Obesity
- Rheumatoid arthritis
8 Ways to Get Carpal Tunnel Relief
Carpal tunnel pain can get unbearably high if it is not dealt with promptly when you get the first symptoms. Instead of visiting a hospital later, you can try the following remedies for carpal tunnel treatment.
Wrist Splint
Carpal Tunnel wrist splints are very effective when it comes to reducing strain on your wrist. Instead of taking medications for your pain, you can try wearing the splints at night time when the symptoms usually show up.
A splint will keep your wrist straight and in a correct position to relieve the pressure on the median nerve. Moreover, it will prevent your wrist from flexing while sleeping at night too.
If your symptoms start appearing during the day, you can wear the splint while at work to limit any straining from repetitive work.
Icing
Since the syndrome causes inflammation and swelling in your wrist joint, you can try icing it for short periods. This is one of many carpal tunnel home remedies that work effectively to bring the swelling down and reduce your pain.
You can either use an ice bath or ice pack for easy carpal tunnel relief without surgery.
Adding Warmth
In contrast to the remedy mentioned above for carpal tunnel relief, keeping your hands warm can also help alleviate your joint stiffness and pain. Since cold weather exacerbates both symptoms, wearing just gloves can improve your carpal tunnel syndrome.
What’s more, you can even opt for fingerless gloves if you are at work and require your fingers for intricate work.
Besides this, you can use a nearby fireplace or radiator to warm your hands periodically. As a result, your wrist joint will remain pain-free and loose during the day.
Elevating Your Hands
Apart from repetitive tasks at your job, pregnancy, fracture, and high blood pressure can also cause carpal tunnel syndrome. If that is the case, then fluid retention in your body is a significant risk factor for carpal tunnel syndrome.
However, there is a quick and easy solution to the edema in your hand. Just raise your hand and wrist upwards or elevate it over a pillow anytime possible. This carpal tunnel treatment will help to bring the fluid towards your body as a result of gravity.
Stretching
Whenever you take a break during your day or have carpal tunnel pain, you should try a few stretches to reduce your wrist joint strain. You can perform these short exercises while thinking and reading on the laptop or getting up to get a file from another room.
One of the carpal tunnel syndrome stretching involves making a fist and then sliding your fingers back up gradually. Doing it at least five to ten times can make an immense difference in your strain or swelling.
Apart from this, you can also try another quick stretch. Firstly, make a wrist. Next, unclench your fingers, fanning them out as far as possible. Repeat this stretch five to ten times too.
Change Your Wrist Position
If you work with your wrists flexed for long periods, it will have detrimental effects on your carpal tunnel. For such circumstances, you should adopt the habit of changing your wrist position frequently during your work.
Besides this, avoid any repetitive tasks, especially if you already have carpal tunnel syndrome. This includes typing, writing, using the till, lifting weights, and using power tools. You can either take a break every one hour or switch your tasks to a less straining job.
Furthermore, limiting the force of your grip can also reduce the strain on your wrist joint. Instead of typing fast and forcefully, tapping lightly will reduce the power.
Drugs
People with severe wrist pains and strain should visit their doctor to get a drug prescription for carpal tunnel relief. Most doctors will either give you NSAIDs for temporary relief from extreme pain or corticosteroids for reducing inflammation.
Out of the two, steroid injections are more popular for reducing your nerve pressure in inflammatory conditions.
Surgery
If your carpal tunnel symptoms have exacerbated over time and the remedies mentioned earlier do not alleviate your pain, you should consider surgery with your doctor.
Take your complete history and discuss all possible plans with your doctor to reach a final decision. Although surgery might sound daunting, it only involves two cuts on the ligament pressing on your nerve.
Moreover, the ligament grows back with time and creates more space for your median nerve.
Last Thoughts
While carpal tunnel syndrome might present as just tingling initially, it can progress to excruciating pain with time. Hence, it is vital to start early treatment before it can disrupt all your daily activities.
Read the article thoroughly to find all the ways to get carpal tunnel relief without surgery. However, if home remedies fail to treat the symptoms, visit your doctor to get a drug description or opt for surgery.
