Simple exercises at work can alleviate carpal tunnel syndrome

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Thursday, January 15, 1998

SIMPLE EXERCISES AT WORK CAN ALLEVIATE CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

MANHATTAN -- Carpal tunnel syndrome affects nearly 5 million Americans in the workplace, causing severe and persistent pains in the hands. But according to a Kansas State University professor, the aches of carpal tunnel can be lessened through exercise.

David Poole, associate professor of kinesiology and anatomy and physiology, says there are preventative steps and exercises that can be done to help alleviate the problem.

"If you have carpal tunnel syndrome, there are some very simple exercises to maintain the flexibility of the wrist joint," Poole said. "However, they won't reverse extreme carpal tunnel syndrome, but they can offset or prevent its occurrence, so it's a good preventive medicine program that everyone can do."

Poole advises some exercises that maintain wrist mobility that can be done while sitting at an office desk.

* Place both palms together at the center of your chest and gently lower the position of your hands. You'll feel a stretch just behind the wrist.
* Hold one hand out at waist level. Push down on the back of the hand, and push up on the palm until you feel a little tension over the top of the wrist. This will open up the carpal tunnel area, and prevent it from pressing on the nerve.

* Squeeze a squash or racket ball. If you don't have a ball, try squeezing a small sock with sand in it.

* If these exercises are done 45 seconds to a minute, twice each day, they can cause a substantial lessening of stiffness in the joint. However, if pain persists, then you should seek medical advice.

"Physiologically our bodies are built for mobility and moving around," Poole said. "When you sit in an office for long periods, the wrist joint can be affected by either immobility or incorrect positioning. This leads to carpal tunnel syndrome."

One thing that has been known to aggravate carpal tunnel syndrome is prolonged forward or backward twisting of the wrist, Poole said. It is most commonly found in people who sit at computer keyboards.

"Carpal tunnel syndrome originates from pressure being put on a nerve as it goes through a tunnel," Poole said. "It is caused by an increased growth of tendons that go though the tunnel, or an inflammation of fibrous tissue building within the tunnel.

"And anything that squeezes on the nerve will affect both the way you use your hands' muscular function, and also the sensations that you get from the thumb and the first two fingers," he said.

Symptoms for carpal tunnel include numbness in the fingers and thumbs, a sensation like burning or tingling in the fingers, or a loss of sensation. In extreme cases, people have lost motor control in their hands, and the ability to squeeze objects or perform fine motor control skills.

"As a last resort, there is a surgical procedure that involves cutting the ligament and freeing up the tunnel for the nerve to move through," Poole said. "It's an outpatient surgery that has had good success rates. But again, it should be taken as a final option."