Carpal Tunnel
Ligaments of Carpal Joints
Muscles of the Hand
Skeleton of the Hand
Cycling Injuries
If you have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome you know how painful it can be.
But it can be healed if you use the right treatment.
In the simplest terms, CTS is caused when swelling in the wrist puts pressure on the median nerve.
This nerve pressure causes pain and numbness.
For most people, the pain is in the thumb, index, and middle finger.
Some people have symptoms in the ring finger and pinky as well.10x
You may or may not know that between the muscles and the bones, these tendons pass through soft but flexible and slippery straws called sheaths.
The sheaths are super slippery, and stop the constantly moving tendons from rubbing on other tissues around them.
These sheaths are also called 'synovium'.
And your tendons with their sheaths run through pipes called 'septums' which provide the rigid structure that keeps them held in the right positions through your body.
In your wrist, all of these structures are pressed close together and held in place by a band of cartilage called the transverse carpal ligament.
This little space where the tendons, sheaths, and the median nerve all squeeze through under the transverse carpal ligament, is called the Carpal Tunnel.
Since there is no extra room in this tight spot, any injury can cause inflammation that compresses the nerve, and results in pain and numbness.
When it happens, that situation is called 'Carpal Tunnel Syndrome'.
Once you have swelling here, it will likely persist.
The cramped space, combined with the fact that we use our wrists all the time, makes it likely that any inflammation will cause more tightness and rubbing.
This, of course, leads to more swelling as the tissues rub together and increase irritation.
Some people have anatomical variations that will make the condition more likely.
A clue is when it shows up in both wrists, which is then called Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome".
You will often read online that thicker tendons or a smaller Carpal Tunnel increases the likelihood of inflammation in this location becoming chronic.
But this is misleading.
It may be a contributing factor, but it is not the cause.
If your natural anatomy was the cause, this condition would have plagued you your whole life.
Your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the result of a one-time injury that caused some swelling that now persists.
When you take the steps to stop the inflammation, you will heal the condition once and for all.
You might experience Carpal Tunnel in different ways from other people.
Your body is unique, and your condition is unique.
You haven't done anything wrong.
You just got injured at some point, like everybody does from time to time.
There is no need to decide it's a condition you are stuck with.
With the right steps, you can heal and get back to your normal activities.
Most people first notice the pain of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome during everyday activities that require the use of their hands and wrists.
It might be typing on a keyboard, gripping a tool, driving, or even holding a phone.
But the activity where the pain first shows up is often not the actual cause of the problem.
It is simply where the condition makes itself known.
The important thing is that pain is your warning signal.
Pain means what you are doing is more than your wrist is ready for at that moment in time.
The activity may not have caused the original injury, but it can make the condition worse if you push through the discomfort.
When you have pain, respect it.
Do not drive through it or try to ignore it.
Even if the task is routine, forcing your wrist to keep working through pain can definitely set back your healing.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is most often the result of a single injury that has not healed properly.
You may not remember when it happened, and that is okay.
But once the injury occurred, less strenuous repetitive activities can interfere with healing.
They did not cause the problem, but they can prolong it.
Your wrist is designed for repetition.
Tasks such as typing, light gripping, or moving your fingers for everyday activities are considered light activity.
Even if you do them for hours, a healthy wrist can handle it.
Your tendons slide within protective sheaths that act like natural lubricants, reducing friction and shielding the tissue from normal motion.
The risk comes with heavy, repeated strain.
Using high-powered vibrating tools, tightly gripping heavy objects, or applying strong force over and over again can create wear faster than the tissues can repair.
If the tissue inside the carpal tunnel becomes irritated and swollen, the space is so tight that the swelling compresses the median nerve, which leads to the pain and numbness of CTS.
10x
Occasional heavy activity is usually not a problem because the body has time to recover.
But when constant heavy strain is combined with repetition, the protective sheaths can be overwhelmed, and the tissue may not get a chance to heal.
That is when inflammation and nerve compression can begin.
So remember, light repetition is not the cause of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
It is either the result of an initial injury that never healed, or in some cases, excessively heavy repetitive strain that overloaded the wrist over time.
Once injured, even light tasks can aggravate the problem until the underlying issue is treated and healed.
Carpal Tunnel problems can be caused by a number of things.
A bone fracture or tendon strain from a fall, or sports injury can lead to Carpal Tunnel.
Also, things like work injuries, like vibrations from using an industrial tool or twisting a wrist while swinging something heavy.
Various studies point to other factors that can contribute like hormonal issues, infection, obesity, age, and arthritis.
But even when there are other factors playing a role, the bottom line is, there is a specific injury that you might not even remember.
Now you're noticing that a lot of everyday activities are causing a lot of pain!
Once you are injured, everyday activities may definitely hurt, but they were not the initial cause.
Your tendons and your muscles are made for that kind of motion.
If you are healthy, you can do them all day long and never have any concern.
Yes, once you have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, everyday activities can aggravate it and cause it to persist.
As for the original cause, something happened once or a few times, and it would have had to be strenuous to damage those tendons in the wrist in the first place.
The irony is, that these sorts of things that can cause CTS are actually items unscrupulous companies sell on places like Amazon to treat your condition.
If you use a tight band or strap or elastic material around your wrist you are likely to make your condition much worse.
Yes, companies actually sell compression sleeves to 'cure' Carpal Tunnel (all over Amazon), that will make your condition worse.
What does Amazon know about healing Carpal Tunnel?
Nothing.
These items are sold on Amazon to make people money and that's it.
They put a good spin on it and people buy.
It's unfortunate but true.
If you have carpal tunnel, never use tight bands or straps on your wrist while you are doing any activity.
It is only going to make your situation worse.46x
Proper use of medical tape will do wonders24x, but compression bands are a very likely to make the condition worse.
Using medical tape properly is not wrapping it around your wrist.
Using medical tape properly is placing strips correctly over the carpal tunnel to reduce strain without adding pressure.
People don't realize that you can actually hurt your body by 'doing nothing'.
Constant pressure on a body part when it is not moving can lead to damage called Isometric Strain Injury.
This commonly happens while sleeping.
It is quite common for people to sleep with their wrist in an awkward position.
If this is happening nightly, it could lead to a more significant problem.
Isometric strain in the wrist can also happen with any task that would require isometric tension to keep the hand in one place.
It could be something like pressing down on a tool or other object to hold something in place for long periods.
Or maybe you sit at your desk and look at your screen with your head resting on your hand/fist for long periods.
Are you holding your phone for long periods and actually squeezing your wrist while you do it, or are you relaxed while you hold it?
Pay close attention to your daily activity.
Instead of focusing on repetitive motion, look for situations where you lock your wrist in one spot for long periods of time.
That may very well be a contributing factor to your Carpal Tunnel pain.
It is something to think about because often we do not realize the damage being caused by simply not moving for a long time.
Watch your daily habits for possible situations that can cause isometric strain.49x If you find an issue, simply try doing things differently for a while to see if it helps.
When a tendon or other tissue in the wrist gets injured and your body tries to heal it, it swells a bit.
If a tendon is injured your body first puts an extra layer of another tissue called collagen around the bad spot to reinforce it.
This tendon-like tissue gives your tendon more strength and protects it while it goes through the healing process.
Because of the added tissue, it may be thicker for a few weeks or even months depending on how bad the injury was.
The carpal tunnel was tight to begin with, so this extra tissue makes things even more cramped for a while.
The added pressure often squeezes the median nerve and gives you the first numbness and tingling you observed.
Click here for the full story on how your body heals
Once you have swelling of any tissue inside the Carpal Tunnel, that's when normal movement can irritate the median nerve.
The added pressure not only affects the median nerve, but it also causes the surrounding tendons in their sheaths to get squeezed too.
That's when regular activity contributes to the issue.
With the other tendon's squeezed, it can cause them to get irritated and swell as well.
More swelling in this neighboring tissue means more pressure and the symptoms get worse.
Have you had Carpal Tunnel issues for many months?
Remember that original injury discussed above?
After many months, that original injury may have healed and the extra collagen may be gone.
If that's the case, then it's just because of the swelling that was induced in the other tendons that causes your condition to persist.
So really, you may be almost out of the woods.
You only need to take down the swelling in the neighboring tendons and everything goes back to normal.
The original injury has healed and you are left with residual pressure in the neighboring tendons that perpetuates itself.
That's Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
The challenge for most people is not moving their wrist for a few months.
Life doesn't allow us to just stop using one hand.
So, the key thing is to go as easy as you can on your hand.
When it's at rest it will heal.
When you use it, you might take some steps backward.33x The key is to make the steps backward as few and as small as possible.
If you heal more than you hurt yourself each day, the issue will eventually go away.
You also want to make the steps forward as big as possible.52x There are things you can do to be proactive about making the healing steps bigger each day.
If you want to speed up the process, there are also things you can do to reduce the amount of reinjury you do.52x
Your wrist needs your help to heal.
But it does not need you to start randomly doing stretches or exercises you find on the web.
That is a great way to keep your injury going.
Reinjuring the tissue is the number one thing that prolongs healing.
These wrist tendons and sheaths are engaged in almost everything you do with your hands.
That means your wrist does not get to rest unless you make a point of protecting it and controlling your activity.
Another complicating factor is that many people find that sleeping aggravates their Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
You may need to change your sleeping position to reduce pressure on your wrist.
If both sleeping and daily activities cause irritation, it will take some planning to make sure your wrist gets enough rest to heal.
At first, focus on three things:
reduce pain with cold compression not medication,
avoid reinjury (consider medical tape or other supports),
and increase blood flow to your wrist to stimulate healing.
Here are some definite things to avoid that people often think will help but actually make the situation worse:
Pain reduction is important.
When the wrist tendons hurt, you need relief to get through your day.
But masking pain with medication is not recommended because it can make you unaware of the damage you are doing.
This is a very common way people get caught in an injury and reinjury cycle.
Do not get caught in this loop.
33x 50x
Get some rest for the injured area and give it time to heal.
Protect the tissue from overuse during the early phase.
Use cold for pain during the day.
If you do use pain medications, use them at night for sleep.
Do not use them during the day since they greatly increase your chances of adding more damage.
25x 50x
Some pain medications can help - if you use the right one at the right time.
Call us and speak to one of our trained advisors about which pain relievers work best.
We are here to help.
TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation.
The TENS machine is designed to overstimulate the nerves to relieve pain.
It deadens the nerves and nothing more.
Yes, reducing pain is important.
But using a TENS machine over an injured wrist is a very bad idea.
54x
TENS causes muscles to spasm during treatment.
That is harmful.
Making your wrist injury pulse and flex uncontrollably can cause further tissue damage and slow down healing. 55x
Avoid this treatment as it can make your condition significantly worse.
For a little while - not forever - it is really helpful to give your wrist a rest. In many cases, resting your wrist for a few weeks will allow it to heal enough that your body gets ahead of the problem. It is important to remember that once the pain goes away, your underlying injury may not be fully healed. Take it easy. When the pain and swelling are gone, return to your regular activities gradually.
If you want your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome to go away as quickly as possible, you need to rest your wrist.
Avoid any physical activities that could cause further pain.
If you really think your CTS developed from a specific activity, do your best to avoid that activity for an extended period of time.
Do regular ColdCure® treatments to control the pain and swelling in your wrist.
The compression during each treatment helps gently move synovial fluid and reduce congestion in the carpal tunnel space.27x 26x
You can also focus on healing your underlying wrist injury with regular BFST® treatments.
This combination will work to finally get rid of your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
6x
Painkillers mask the pain, causing you to continue to stress and injure your wrist.
This will only make your condition worse.
It is understandable that people need relief from the pain, so if you have to take painkillers, restrict them to times when you are at rest.
You can use painkillers to help you sleep.
Using them when you are active is a recipe for permanent damage. 25x 50xYour choice of painkillers is important.
You can give us a call to discuss which ones are best.
When it comes to Carpal Tunnel pain relief, the ColdCure® Wrist Wrap is designed to relieve pain.
This safe and effective therapy also helps reduce swelling and inflammation. 26x 27x 51x
The ColdCure® Wrap is soothing and provides support and protection for your wrist.
The painkilling effect is powerful and it works instantly - there is no 20 minute wait like with pills.
There is no doubt about it, for healing most tissue injuries in the body, blood flow is the most critical element in rapid recovery.
Blood brings the building blocks for new cell growth.
It carries away waste and damaged tissue.
It delivers antibodies to protect against infection.
Your circulation supplies the cells with everything they need and removes much of what needs to be taken away.
While your heart ensures a sufficient supply to the body as a whole, the amount that reaches a specific area like your wrist depends on many factors.
Motion in local tissue can play a major role in circulation, but when you are injured, motion is reduced, and so is the trigger to bring blood to the area. 43x
People often do not realize that gentle motion alone is enough to encourage circulation.
That does not mean putting a heavy load on your wrist.
Simple, light movements without pain are all that is needed.
Adding weight or stressful activity does not improve the flow further, and the added loads can result in reinjury. 33x
Find light, gentle motions you can do with no pain at all and repeat them several times each day.
Diathermy is a medical process to promote blood flow in tissue at rest. 7x
It works by sending energy deep into the body to stimulate blood flow far below the skin. 1x 2x
An example of diathermy is ultrasound treatment, which is often used in physiotherapy. 13x
The challenge with ultrasound is that diathermic effects last only about 4 hours, while most people only receive treatment once every few days.
It also carries more risk, as ultrasound can damage tissue if misused, and it must be performed by a trained technician in a clinic.
That means you cannot do it at home.
The good news is that you have an option for this painful condition other than ultrasound. 9xBFST® devices from King Brand are diathermic devices that you can safely use at home to promote healing. 1x 2x
With a home diathermic device, you can treat yourself multiple times each day, which greatly improves blood flow and accelerates recovery. 7x 20x
They are also more powerful, providing deeper stimulation than clinic-based ultrasound treatments. 13x
Unlike ultrasound, which treats only a small focused area and must be moved constantly, BFST® devices treat up to 70 square inches of tissue at once.
This means your wrist injury can be treated more completely, with better safety and far less effort. 1x 2x
They are typically up to 10 times more powerful than ultrasound and completely safe for home use. 13x
BFST® brings extra oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to your wrist - something the body must have to heal itself. 1x
Unfortunately, an injured wrist at rest often has restricted circulation, which greatly slows recovery. 33x
With a King Brand® BFST® Wrist Wrap, blood flow can be stimulated in the area of injury while you are at rest.
With improved circulation and reduced strain, you lower the risk of reinjury and you can recover from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome at a surprisingly rapid rate.
For more in-depth information about how an injury heals click here for our Healing Page.
To minimize pain and swelling, use a ColdCure® any time your pain level increases, or if you have been active. The ColdCure® Wrist Wrap provides effective relief of the swelling and pain that comes with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. ColdCure® Wrist Wraps use cold and compression together, because cold and compression are the two things you need to reduce pain and swelling as quickly and effectively as possible. 27x The application of cold compression must be uniform and complete for the best results. 26x 51x This is why the ColdCure® Wrist Wrap has been custom designed to perfectly fit the wrist and hand, to ensure your injury receives an even distribution of cooling power.
ColdCure® Wrist Wrap - Stop the Pain
If your biggest issue is the pain, then you definitely want the ColdCure® wrap. The ColdCure® Wrist Wrap comes with 3 swappable cold packs that contain our unique XC RigiGel® formula. This is not the "blue goo" you see at the drug store. This is super gel. It holds much more cold and stays cold much longer. It is ice that bends like rubber. The elasticized wrap holds the cold firmly in place against your wrist, sucking away the pain while it gently reduces swelling. If pain is your #1 concern, this is your #1 solution. With extra gel packs included you can treat the pain again and again, never running out of ice.
The King Brand Recovery Packs listed below include all of our best products to help you heal from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome as quickly as possible. As an added bonus, the Recovery Packs include a built-in discount.
Three Piece Recovery Pack - Save BIG on the Essentials
The Three Piece Recovery Pack includes the BFST® Wrist Wrap, the ColdCure® Wrist Wrap, and KB Support Tape™.
These are the three most important tools we recommend for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. They work together to help heal you, protect you, and reduce the pain.
Four Piece "On The Go" Pack - The Biggest Savings with Battery
The Four Piece Recovery Pack is designed for people who are always on the go and want the convenience of treatments anywhere, anytime.
This bundle includes everything mentioned in our Three Piece Recovery Pack, and also includes our BFST® Battery Pack.
With the BFST® Battery Pack, you don't need an outlet.
You can take your treatments in the car, on the plane, or wherever your day takes you.
With a full charge, you will have more than enough power to complete all of your treatments for 3 or 4 days between charges.
Your wrist moves constantly through the day, and when you are struggling with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, you feel every little movement.
You cannot stop everything and wait for CTS to go away, so you need to support your wrist without losing your range of motion.
KB Support Tape™ is designed to protect your tendons, ligaments, and muscles and help prevent further damage as you go through your day.
It does this while still allowing full mobility.
Our skin is soft and elastic and can stretch far more than the tissue beneath.
When you apply KB Support Tape™, it makes your skin a more rigid surface, which supports the damaged tissue underneath and helps prevent reinjury. 24x
That is why we call it armor for your injury.
Support Tape™ - Protection from Re-Injury
Too busy to be injured? Have to keep going? Then Support Tape™ is your "must have".
Constant re-injury is often the biggest reason Carpal Tunnel Syndrome does not heal.
It improves when at rest, but once you get back on the go, the injury gets worse.
Athletes are always taped up. That is to prevent against re-injury while they are active.
And King Brand Support Tape™ is made for that purpose.
Taping is very underappreciated and very effective.
If you have to keep moving, you have to tape.
There is one big difference between King Brand Support Tape and regular kinesiology tapes or athletic tapes you find in drug stores.
King Brand tape is medical grade; the others are athletic grade.
Medical grade tape is designed to be worn all day long, day after day, which is exactly what you need when treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
They may look the same, but the materials are entirely different.
Athletic tape is designed for occasional, temporary use - maybe an hour or two at a time.
The materials in athletic tape can be toxic to your skin with prolonged exposure.
Some are even carcinogenic.
King Brand medical tape is designed for long-term, repeated use the way you will use it while treating your wrist.
Choose wisely and stay safe.
The color is purely your sense of style.
The Pre-Cut Strips are super convenient; they are the right length for most wrist taping.
You may still cut one piece in half when needed.
The Continuous Roll gives you more control over how you tape your wrist and gives you the most use out of a single roll.
The BFST treatments are very comfortable and soothing.
The BFST® uses Electromagnetic Energy to stimulate blood flow underneath the surface of the skin.
It is warm, but not hot.
It does not vibrate like a massager. (You shouldn't use a massager on soft tissue injuries)
It does not cause your muscles to tense in jolts like with a TENS machine. (TENS machines are very bad for soft tissue injuries)
The BFST® isn't supposed to do either of those things.
Rather, it is soothing and sometimes gives you a gentle tingling sensation in the treatment area.
BFST treatments are very pleasant and enjoyable.
Don't be confused, while the treatments feel gentle, they are still very powerful.
Think about an X-RAY or an MRI.
Even though you don't feel the energy during those procedures, a lot of energy is definitely going deep into your body.
If you put your ear close to the BFST when it is on, you can actually hear it going through the cycles.
It's not loud, but you can hear it if you listen.
It isn't just delivering one energy level at one frequency.
Just like an MRI machine, the BFST buzzes and hums and gets louder and more quiet as it goes through the treatment cycle.
It sounds just like a mini-MRI machine.
Over the 20 minute treatment period it goes through a treatment cycle to deliver the most energy in the most effective way.
It is designed to help give you the fastest healing time possible, in the comfort of your home.
During each BFST® treatment you will only feel a mild warming sensation.
If it feels hot, you are using it on too high of a setting.
Over time, after several treatment sessions, the treatments will feel like they are getting less and less warm.
This is your body responding to the BFST® treatments by increasing your subdermal blood flow.
The more BFST treatments you do, the less warmth you're going to feel.
This is a good sign.
Your tissue is becoming healthier.
Your body is getting stronger.
This means that your circulation through your injury is improving, and your injury is improving.
When the feeling of warmth during a treatment is almost all gone, this is the signal that it is time to move up to the next level.
People usually move up to the second level after a few weeks of treatment.
We have briefly covered the most common reasons people struggle with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. There is much more information available. You can explore the Quick Links menu at the very bottom of the screen - each link contains more information about the condition. Here are some of the popular pages:
King Brand® soft tissue rehabilitation medical products are the choice of many top Athletic Therapists and Medical Practitioners. We provide guaranteed results and customer satisfaction. Like all King Brand® products, there simply is not a better performing option. All King Brand® products come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Try our products and if you are not completely impressed, you can send them back for a full refund. We know you will love them, because over a quarter of a million people already use them and rave about the results.
Click here to see our Customer Testimonials
King Brand® BFST® and ColdCure® Wraps are FDA Registered medical devices. They are intended to prevent, treat and cure soft tissue injuries and chronic conditions. As an FDA Registered company, our products are made from high quality, biocompatible materials. These devices are manufactured and tested to the highest safety standards in the industry.
