I have been struggling with carpel tunnel the last few years.
It all begun one long, dark finals week when I was staying up late typing papers around the clock. I am a very speedy typist, and I can pound out papers incredibly fast. As college progressed, I became even more adept at putting together a paper lightning fast. I felt pretty proud of myself, however, all this word composing was taking a toll on my wrists. It all started with a bit of soreness in both wrists that I shrugged off. Then it became a throbbing pain, and I began taking ibuprofen. And then during finals week the pain in both wrists became so unbearable I could not even manage sleep, because my wrists were so inflamed.
The last two years of college I came to expect finals week to just be a time of wrist agony. I expected this discomfort along with the sleep deprivation, large amounts of caffeine, and piles of study guides. I figured it was just going to be something I dealt with until I graduated college.
I was wrong.
This past fall I headed into final’s week, and my wrists began to throb, but this time I implemented several important steps for my wrist health, and it made all the difference in the world. I was able to avoid the crippling pain of earlier years, and finish my finals without anything more than a slight tinge of discomfort. Here are the steps I took to achieve this, and what I might try in the future if this condition rears its head again.
How to Naturally Get Rid of Carpal Tunnel
1. Chiropractic adjustments
Did you know that a chiropractor can adjust your wrists? I did not either. As soon as I began feeling discomfort I went to my doctor, and he adjusted my wrists. This was key to my recovery, because I immediately felt better after adjustments. I continued getting them adjusted every week until I was done with finals, and even now when they began to hurt that is my first course of action. It helped immensely with the pain.
2. Posture while typing
Carpal tunnel is an overuse injury. It pops up when you or I spend too much time in one position, doing the same movement over and over again. Since my wrist problems all stemmed from the fact that I was typing half a dozen papers in a short amount of time I started becoming aware of how I was positioning my wrists while I was typing. My Mom told me that she had eliminated carpal tunnel by standing up while she was working on the computer. By setting her laptop higher, and typing from an elevated position rather than letting her wrists bend lower than her hands she was able to cure her own pain. At work we also use an ergonomic keyboard as well as a wrist pad which helped me out a lot*. I noticed that typing at work was a lot less painful than working on my laptop. By adjusting my position through trial or error I was able to eliminate future injury.
3. Biofreeze
When my wrists started to feel a little sore I applied Biofreeze a topical pain reliever (like icy hot) that really made them feel better (along with rest) in order to get some rest from the discomfort. This pain relieving technique worked a lot better than mere ibuprofen, since biofreeze can be applied directly to the sore muscle as opposed to a general pain reliever.
Those were the three steps that helped me to cure my own carpal tunnel, and type pain free. Yay!
Here are a few more tricks to try…
*Essential Oils: I have heard that wintergreen (which cools the area, and relieves the pain) and Cyprus (which increases circulation) are excellent for carpal tunnel.
*Amber Bracelet: I have read that wearing this amber bracelet helps a great deal with carpal tunnel.
*Rest and Ice: I had to find a remedy quickly, because I needed to write all those papers for finals, but if you can discontinue whatever activity that is causing your carpal tunnel, and ice your wrists that will aid in your recovery.
*This post contains affiliate links. To read my full disclosure check out Jargon.
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What about you? Have you ever struggled with carpal tunnel or a similar malady? Do you have any suggestions or tricks that have helped?
I had the same problem start up while I was pregnant, complete with weird wrist bumps. It subsided a week or so after Rebekah was born, but it still has flare ups and has really made things like typing, crocheting, and chopping more painful. I bought a great Amber bracelet. Great ideas! I will have to try some of the typing ones!
I remember you mentioning that, Nathana! Rats. I always took my wrists for granted, and everything they did for me until I began having problems. There are so many daily tasks that are next to impossible when your wrists are throbbing! I am glad to hear that the Amber bracelet helped. I think I need to get one of those just in case. Let me know if you find any other home remedies!