This information is for informational purposes only, and is not intended in any way to be construed as medical advice. Please check with your registered medical practioner prior to taking any of these courses of action or remedies, especially if you are pregnant, are currently taking medication of any type, or if you have any doubts whatsoever about using any of the recipies, remedies or recommendations listed.

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What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
This common, painful disorder of the hand and wrist has had many names throughout history, including 'writer's cramp' and 'seamstress' cramp'. It is considered a type of repetitive stress injury, since it's often associated with jobs or other activities that call for repeated movements of the hand and wrist. Many other physical conditions may cause or contribute to it as well, including pregnancy, obesity, diabetes, hypothyroidism and certain autoimmune diseases.

Causes
The blood vessels, nerves, and tendons that serve your fingers need to pass through a narrow tunnel formed by bones and ligaments in your wrist (the carpal tunnel). If the tendons in and around the tunnel get swollen, they may pinch the median nerve, the major nerve passing through the carpal tunnel. That can cause pain, numbness, and other problems. It isn't fully understand what produces this swelling or pressure, but people who make the same hand movements over and over for long periods of time ... including writers, musicians, carpenters, technicians, and factory workers... seem to be at especially high risk of developing it.

Posture also appears to play a role. Studies show that bending your wrist repeatedly or extending your arm outward from your body increases the pressure in the carpal tunnel. Forceful twisting motions (the kind you make when you turn a screwdriver, for example) or vibration (as when you use a power tool or grip bicycle handlebars for long stretches of time) can also aggravate the tendons and ligaments in your hands and wrists.

Some people, especially women, are more prone to this condition. In fact, women account for about 70 percent of diagnosed cases, possibly because they have smaller carpal tunnels to begin with; the hormonal changes that occur during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause can also make women's hands (including the wrist ligaments) more prone to swelling.Overweight and inactive people are particularly likely to get carpal tunnel syndrome, as are people with endocrine disorders (like diabetes and hypothyroidism) or immune disorders (like arthritis and lupus). Many researchers believe that people with such conditions develop the syndrome more readily if they also overuse their hands and wrists.

Symptoms
You may have carpal tunnel syndrome, say most experts, if you have one or more of these symptoms...

• Pain
• Aching
• Stiffness
• Numbness
• Tingling
• A burning sensation in your hands or wrists, especially in the thumb and the index and middle fingers (occasionally the forearm is affected as well)

The symptoms usually appear for at least a week or may flare up intermittently for more than a month. Pain in your hands or forearms that often gets worse at night or after you use your hands. Weakness and a loss of control in your hands and fingers, so that it's hard to grip and manipulate things.

Prevention
• Rest your wrists. If you type or operate machinery all day, take a short break every few minutes and flex your wrists and fingers.
• Avoid hyper extending or bending your wrists for long periods of time. If your hands and arms often feel tired, you may be holding your arms too far away from your body as you work. Some studies show that hyper extending or bending your wrists can build up extra pressure in the carpal tunnels, so try to keep your wrists in a natural, inflexed position. Also consider wearing splints to keep them in line, especially at night. But avoid wearing the splints all day or every night, since that can weaken the muscles in your wrists and hands.
• Cut down on the amount of force you use. If you type or use a cash register, hit the keys softly; studies show that most people use four to five times more force than they need to. If you write by hand a lot, use a big pen with free-flowing ink so that you don't have to grip tightly or press hard on the paper.
• Keep your hands warm. You're likelier to develop carpal tunnel syndrome if you work in a cold environment, surveys show. If you can't control the temperature at work, put on fingerless gloves that keep your wrists and hands warm.
• Look into ergonomically designed equipment, especially if you think your symptoms might be related to your work. Use scissors with bigger handles if you do a lot of cutting, for example, or a trackball instead of a mouse if you're on the computer all day.
• Get moving. Overweight, sedentary people are at much higher risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome, so losing a few pounds or exercising more often may help keep the disorder at bay. Try to include more activity in your workday, take the stairs occasionally.

Treatment
• See what physical therapy can do. Many of the methods used in this field... including heat, massage, chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation, and hydrotherapy... can help in treating carpal tunnel syndrome. Researchers say there's no clear leader among them, so you may have to experiment to find a treatment that's right for you.
• Take a look at yoga. A preliminary study done at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1998 found that an eight-week programme of 11 specific yoga exercises for the upper body was far more effective in relieving some symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome than either wrist splints or no treatment at all.
• You can ice your wrists with a cold pack or a bag of frozen vegetables (wrapped in a tea towel) to reduce the pain and swelling temporarily.
• Check out acupuncture. This traditional form of Chinese medicine is a safe option in treating many types of pain. Some studies have found that it eases the pain of carpal tunnel syndrome.