Healing Hurting Hands

from health and fitness

Perhaps you may have experienced an aching hand and wrist after a long day work at your desk. The pain may be centered around on your forearms and at night, the pain intensified that it woke you up. In the morning, the pain became increasingly unbearable. You could be experiencing carpal tunnel syndrome. The problem is many of us are more concerned with day-to-day stuff such as work and Fashionable Clothing, stuff that makes us ignore the pain we're feeling. Now new information has shown that you shouldn't be overlooking this pain.

While recent research has found that activities such as typing and sewing rarely cause carpal tunnel, it is good to know the difference between a serious condition that warrant surgery and mere overworking of your hand muscles and nerves in your forearms.

The good news is that for an overuse injury, one does not need to go under the knife. In fact, the pain would usually wear off after an over-the-counter medication. If helps if you could rest your hand regularly and stay off the computer or limit your use to 2 minutes sessions with 10 minutes break. Other simple things you could do include using a keyboard tray or adjust your chair so that the keyboard and mouse are below your elbows.

On the other hand, carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful disorder of the wrist and hand. The carpal tunnel is a narrow tunnel formed by the bones and other tissues of your wrist. This tunnel protects your median nerve. The median nerve gives you feeling in your thumb, and index, middle and ring fingers. But when other tissues in the carpal tunnel, such as ligaments and tendons, get swollen or inflamed, they press against the median nerve. That pressure can make part of your hand hurt or feel numb.

Carpal tunnel, or just overuse?

While the two conditions can feel similar, but if you pay attention to these subtle clues, you can usually tell them apart.

Carpal tunnel syndrome

• Numbness or tingling in your hand and fingers, especially the thumb, index and middle fingers.
• Pain in your wrist, palm or forearm.
• More numbness or pain at night than during the day.The pain may be so intense that it wakes you up during bedtime. You may need to shake or rub your hand to get relief.
• More pain when you use your hand or wrist more.
• Trouble gripping objects.
• Weakness in your thumb.

Overuse injury

• Numbness and tingling appear over the back of the hand, if at all.
• Pain is dull, and usually in your forearms.
• It hurts the worst after the activity that caused the injury.
• More pain when you use your hand or wrist more.
• You can't lift heavy objects because your hands feel tired.

What causes carpal tunnel syndrome?

Doing the same hand movements over and over can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. It's most common in people whose jobs require pinching or gripping with the wrist held bent. People at risk include people who use computers, carpenters, grocery checkers, assembly-line workers, meat packers, musicians and mechanics. Hobbies such as gardening, needlework, golfing and canoeing can sometimes bring on the symptoms.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is linked to other things too. It may be caused by an injury to the wrist, such as a fracture. Or it may be caused by a disease such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis or thyroid disease. You may be surprised to know that carpal tunnel syndrome is also common during the last few months of pregnancy.

So, what can be done to prevent carpal tunnel syndeome?

• Lose weight if you are overweight.
• Get treatment for any diseases you have that may cause it.
• Try not to bend, extend or twist your hands for long period if you do the same tasks repeatedly.
• Don't work with your arms too close or too far from your body.
• Don't work with your arms too close or too far from your body.
• Switch hands during work tasks.
• Make sure your tools that you are using are not too big for your hands.
• Take regular breaks from repeated hand movements to give your hands and wrist time to rest.