Ask HN: How do you manage/avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

3 pointsdevchandan2 comments

I have been coding for over decade now and I play a lot of squash as well. Off late I have been feeling tingling pain in my wrist while playing and I do not want this to affect my livelihood.

Are there any DIY practices that will help me manage this problem?

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As a massage therapist who was a programmer, built my own house, and am currently a whitewater kayaker, I use my hands a lot. At times I have noticed precursors of carpal tunnel syndrome, and have learned a few things. The tension usually begins further up the arm, most likely the front of the shoulder, as we usually hold our shoulders in place to act as a base for the actions of the hands. So start by loosening the shoulders (I like massage, of course), and then check out other muscles in the arm like triceps and forearm flexors. In your case, the squash is probably tightening up your forearms way too much. The main thing to remember is that the circulation and nerve signals to your hand have to get through a lot of tight passageways in your arm, not just the carpal tunnel. So work on keeping all the pathways open before you decide that the carpal tunnel needs to be modified, because western medicine will certainly take you up on that, whether it solves the root cause or not.

Probably look into calisthenics stretches.

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