Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Try these 2 exercises!

As a chiropractor I'm always thinking about nerves and how they can get trapped or pinched and cause pain. I'm also interested in tracing the path of the nerve back to its origin and seeing how we can address the root cause of the issue. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a classic case of a nerve traveling through a congested area that's prone to becoming compressed. Carpal tunnel runs rampant in folks that work at a computer for many hours each day because wrists and hands are usually working hard in a compromised position.

People are often shocked when I tell them that the carpal tunnel is indeed a real structure and your carpal bones at the base of the hand curve slightly inward to create a tunnel. I love when conditions are aptly named for the things they affect! As we see in the image above, the main nerve we are concerned about is the median nerve. A telltale sign of carpal tunnel syndrome is often numbness or tingling in the thumb and first two fingers, which makes sense given that this is the area that the median nerve supplies.

Path that the median nerve travels

It would be nice if everyone's complaints fit in to these neat and tidy textbook definitions; however, that is almost never the case. This being said, it is recommended to see a healthcare professional that can do a thorough exam in order to investigate further.

BUT if you are experiencing these symptoms and are looking for quick relief (which I'm assuming you are since you're reading this blog post) then try these two nerve glide exercises! I even made them in to a Tik Tok (that I then uploaded to Youtube) for your viewing pleasure: