Easy Carpal Tunnel Exercises

If you have carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms it can be really annoying and frustrating trying to deal with them. One of the most frustrating things is trying to find some exercises that don't aggravate the symptoms.

It really depends on how you do the exercises. If you start exercising aggressively treating your repetitive strain injury as a simple muscle weakness, you will probably be sorry. Even though the muscles and tissues of your hand(s) may seem weak, and may even be weak, they are that way because they have been overworked. Another article about carpal tunnel exercises points this out clearly. You don't need to try to work your muscles hard, you just need to work them smart.

One of the first things you could start doing is learning how to stretch the muscles of the forearm, wrists, and hands. These muscles get tight with carpal tunnel. Not only do the muscles get tight, the tissues and fascia get tight also and need to be stretched. Many people don't want to stretch because they say "Something feels like it's ripping inside". But that's what you actually want. If done correctly, you will feel your tissues stretching and breaking free of their restrictions on the inside of your arms and hands.

Carpal Tunnel Exercises Video

When you stretch, you want to do it gently and progressively. Your muscles have a built in defense mechanism that prevents them from stretching if you stretch too fast and too aggressively. This is called the "stretch reflex" that actually makes your muscle contract and get shorter.

When you are doing stretching carpal tunnel exercises get in touch with what you are feeling. You should only really feel a moderate amount of tension in your arms and hands. when you get to this point of the stretch, just hold it and focus on breathing fully and slowly. After about 3-5 breath cycles you can either relax or stretch just a little further.

When stretching, its good to alternate muscle groups. If you start stretching the front part of the wrist, alternate to the back part of the wrist. Then come back to the front. One of the things that cause repetitive strain injuries and tendinitis is a muscle imbalance around the joints. You want to restore the balance to all the muscle groups that work the joint.

There are other carpal tunnel exercises but the foundation is the stretching. The reason for this is that the tissues are already tight and stretching is generally non-traumatic. Plus, once you learn how to stretch correctly you will be able to advance to other carpal tunnel exercises.

Good luck