I was a bad girl. Instead of calling the doctor about my recent wrist pain (which I suspect may be carpal tunnel syndrome), I called my massage therapist.
Massage therapists are not supposed to diagnose or recommend treatment. But they sure do know a heck of a lot about the human body, how everything works and how everything is connected. She told me that there is a nerve that runs from the neck through the shoulder and down the arm into the hand. That nerve could have issues way up in the neck that end up causing pain in the wrist region.
Using my own boo-boo arm as an example, she showed me where the different tendons and whatnot were located. I’m not good with medical names; if I was, I might be a medical professional instead of a writer type. She explained what I learned yesterday – that the carpal tunnel is a very small area that all your nerves and tendons and stuff pass through. It’s not very stretchy. So if things start to swell up in the tunnel, you’re going to feel bad. Maybe the numbness, maybe the pain, maybe the pins-and-needles. It’s not going to be comfortable if things get all cramped up in the carpal tunnel!
In a roundabout way, I asked about the usefulness of my store-bought wristband. She told me that if the pain was due to inflammation, that ice would be more useful than the heat of wrapping. Some sort of anti-inflammatory like Tylenol or good old aspirin can’t hurt either. But what my poor wrist really needs is REST. It’s going to be VERY hard to switch mouse hands (I’m left handed but will be mousing with my right for the next few days…) but I’d rather make the change for a few days than suffer with more wrist pain!
And about that massage… she only worked on my left hand and forearm area, but WOW. It was all very gentle, and she was very careful with the wrist area. But being worked on by a pro really did help ease the pain and discomfort. In fact, I have NONE of the shooting pain today, only a vague ache. Knowing next to nothing about anatomy, I can’t exactly describe what she did… I think that the proper manipulation of the area helped make a little more room, and take some of the pressure off the nerves and things in the carpal tunnel. And I can say that there are a lot of massage therapists out there who specialize in this sort of problem.
So… if you’re concerned about carpal tunnel syndrome or other hand/wrist problems, you may get just as much relief from calling your massage therapist as you would calling your doctor!