How to Prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Posted on February 16, 2021

Many people have transitioned to working from home and oftentimes the ergonomic conditions are less than ideal.

If you spend time doing repetitive tasks like typing, movements that require a high level of force such as construction, using vibrational tools like remodeling your driveway, or driving, playing an instrument, knitting, cooking, etc. you may be at risk to get carpal tunnel syndrome. But there are ways to help prevent it or prevent further issues related to it.

1. Stay Healthy: Of course, this is always included in preventative measures because exercise, not smoking, and your diet plays a huge role in how your body functions at a cellular level allowing your muscles to function properly.

1. Ergonomics: How you’re positioned at your desk, while you are seated in the car, your overall posture with your everyday movements should be positioning correctly. Quick tips: have your monitor at eye level, your elbows should be parallel to your desk with no arch in your wrist to type, your back should be straight with your shoulders pulled back while seated, and your feet should be flat against the ground with your knees at a 90-degree angle.

1. Posture: To further expand upon this, your head and chin should be comfortably tucked, avoid slouching in any direction, pull your core back (imagine a string pulling your belly button to your back). If you are frequently on the phone, we highly suggest a headset or headphones. Tilting your head down to look at your phone or to one side for too long is a ticket for disaster for developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

1. Plan Your Activities: Think about what you can do to break up the activities that put more stress on your body. For example, plan to take a walk between working on the computer and throw on your headsets for your phone conference or give yourself 5 minutes to stretch after a long car ride. Just take regular breaks. Your body and eyes will thank you from time away from a screen.

1. Sleep: If you have a severe case, consider wearing a hand brace while you sleep because you can’t control what your hands or wrists do while you rest. In a “normal” wrist, the pressure inside the carpal tunnel doubles when we bend our wrist. If you have carpal tunnel, the pressure increases by 6-8 times.

If you have pain in any way, please call our office so we can discuss what may be causing your issues and get to the root problem so we can help create a plan to keep you out of or reduce the pain you are in. Visit Accident and Injury Chiropractic office in Tacoma, Washington. You can also call (253) 215-8350 to book a complimentary consultation today.