Introduction

• Carpel tunnel syndrome is a painful disease of the hands and wrists. The pain is caused by pressure to the median nerve in the wrist. The median nerve externs from the forearm to the wrist and is responsible for the movement of all the fingers except the pinky. This nerve is located in the carpel tunnel, a narrow passageway in the wrist. The carpel tunnel protects the median nerve. Carpel tunnel has many causes including diabetes, pregnancy, arthritis and obesity. But the main causes are repetitive motions and injuries. To prevent the symptoms of carpel tunnel, you may have to experiment with various treatments.
  
  

Preventing Carpal Tunnel

• If you have to do repetitive task, try not to bend, extend or twist your hands for long periods. If possible, use your less dominant hand to do tasks or switch hands frequently. Another option is to take frequent breaks when you have repetitive jobs to perform. Using your body properly also helps to prevent carpel tunnel. When you use your hands, try not to have your arms to close or too far away from the body. When at the computer, don't leave your wrists on hard surfaces for long periods of time. If you use a keyboard a lot, adjust the height of your chair so that your forearms are level with your keyboard and you don't have to flex your wrists to type.
  
  

Prevening or Relieving Symptoms

• While a person cannot always prevent carpel tunnel syndrome, especially when an injury has occurred, there may be things to do to reduce the number of flare-ups. The most common symptoms of carpel tunnel syndrome are pain, numbness, tingling, weakness and swelling. Not everyone gets all the symptoms. For those with mild symptoms such as slight pain or weakness, the best thing to prevent the disorder is to rest the hands. Taking aspirin for the pain also helps to deal with the disease. Adding ice packs to cut down on swelling will also alleviate some of the pain. Stretching the hands and massaging them can relieve some of the tingling and numbness. You might also want to try wearing a wrist splint at night and avoid sleeping on your hands to help ease the pain or numbness in your wrists and hands. Yoga is also recommended by the Mayo Clinic for "strengthening, stretching and balancing each joint in the upper body." Supplements of vitamin B-6 may be helpful for relieving the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Magnet therapy is also useful for some people, but studies did not prove the therapy to be beneficial.