Easing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome With Massage Therapy
If you've ever experienced pain, numbness or tingling in your
wrists or hands, you might have carpal tunnel syndrome. Your carpal
tunnel is the passage that goes from your forearm through your
wrist to the palm of your hand. This narrow canal contains nine
tendons and one nerve, and if that nerve gets pinched by swelling
in the tunnel, it will register a painful protest.
Usually the symptoms happen on the thumb side of your palm, and
often the pins-and-needles feeling or numbness extends to your
thumb and first two fingers. Generally the effect is only on your
dominant hand, which makes movement especially awkward.
How Massage Can Help
At Massage Envy, various types of massage can not only relax the
muscles and tissues in your hands and wrists, but also provide
other benefits.
Decreased pain is the first and most obvious result of massage
when you're suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. But a 2010 study
by the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami
(Florida) School of Medicine showed that regular massage therapy
can also improve the strength of your grip.
Hot Stone Benefits
In addition, the researchers discovered that people with pain
from arthritis, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome and other hand
problems wound up sleeping better as a result of massage. Hot stone
therapy proved especially effective, because muscles relax under
the direct heat of stones and allow the professional massage
therapist to reach deeper layers of muscle.
Hot stones expand blood vessels, as well, encouraging blood flow
not only in the hands but throughout the entire body. The relief of
chronic pain is enhanced by reduced stress and deep relaxation,
which provides for better health overall.