Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries: A Self-Care Program
by Sharon J. Butler
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Book Summary Information
Author: Sharon J. ButlerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-04-01
ISBN: 1572240391
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: New Harbinger Publications
Book Reviews of Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries: A Self-Care Program
Book Review: This book SAVED my life!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a computer geek, having been typing for over 20 years, and also a drummer, so I have been prone to carpal tunnel symptoms for a very long time. Suddenly I went through a terrible ordeal with bilateral carpal tunnel symptoms; terrible pain around the clock in both arms (from the shoulders to finger tips). I was beside myself in pain and was really panicking since I could barely function in the office or at home. Pain killers did not work so it was very frightening and starting to cause depression.
I was forced to get very educated on the subject quickly and found the majority of information on the Internet on how to combat this problem is absolutely FALSE, including vitamins, massages, chiropractors, wrist braces, wrist wrests, and even surgery in many cases. I tried all of these (aside from the surgery) and actually got worse. All it took was finding this ONE book on proper stretching exercises, and I went from 0% to 95% improvement in just 10 days. If you have carpal tunnel symptoms, drop everything and get this book!
No wonder doctors don't mention this solution; it would put them out of business! The Internet seems filled with websites saying to take B-vitamins etc, but most claim you won't see results for up to 3 MONTHS? Yet vitamin testimonials are difficult to find on the Internet at the same time which is odd. Complete nonsense if you ask me; I took B-vitamins faithfully for a month, at the correct dosages and you'd think I'd see SOME improvement, but I only got worse. Wrist braces may help prevent further aggravation while sleeping, but they do not fix the underlying problem! I tried the chiropractor which did nothing, and massages of the forearms absolutely KILLED me the following day.
With this book, simply just follow the exercises VERY gently and slowly. If any pain is felt, don't do that particular exercise and move on to others. There is no set schedule on how often to do the exercises, so I chose to do them morning and evening (took me about an hour each time). At first you may feel like you don't want to do them, like they may do you more harm. For example, doing exercises to bend your wrist backward when you have painful carpal tunnel symptoms, just seems like a bad idea and is uncomfortable to do and your initial gut feeling may be to stop. Again, if you do them VERY gently and softly and stop the exercises just before the pain threshold hits, THIS is what cures the problem. Every day you will go farther and farther this way.
I am shocked out how much misinformation there is on the Internet on this topic. This book was all I needed. However I did also use the product called the "Carpal Solution" at mycarpaltunnel.com while I slept. I am convinced this helped as well. It basically pulls the lower, fatty parts of the palm apart slightly while you sleep, allowing the median nerve to breath a bit, and heal faster. Great concept and I recommend it, but it is this book I am writing a review on that is most essential.
Note the book "It's not Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" also found on Amazon also had some really good info on things to do. I think the ergonomic info was most helpful. After getting so educated on carpal tunnel syndrome, I am convinced poor ergonomics while sitting at my computer (and on my drums) was the source of the problem. You MUST sit up straight at the computer, use a keyboard tray, and do NOT use arm wrests on your chair, and do NOT use a keyboard cushion, and do NOT lean your body forward and wrest your arms on a table as you type, or against the tables edge while typing. That was my whole problem. Elbows MUST be at your sides as you type, and NOT leaning on anything. Follow these guidelines and also using the exercises in this book, you will be set. I will continue to do these exercises for the rest of my life - they feel good and are the right thing to do as you get older. You have to offset all hand/finger/wrist activity on a daily basis with stretches, period. Hope this helps!
P.S. I did seriously consider carpal tunnel surgery as a last resort, as a few people I know had success with it. However, come to find out, carpal tunnel surgery does not have a big success rate overall, or it may only help temporarily. This is because carpal tunnel syndrome in most cases originates in the neck, shoulders and chest (pinched nerves), where pain then travels to the hands. In this case the surgery often doesn't work or only provides temporary relief because the source of the problem is actually elsewhere in the body. Once I found this book on proper stretching and saw the results, I realized surgery is not needed.
UPDATE: Now 3 months later, my carpal tunnel symptoms are still gone and I can do everyday tasks normally. Though if I type for a long time, my hands do get a bit achy. In that case, I pull out the exercises from this book and do them and I always feel much better. One solution I found in the meantime to lessen my typing is software called "Dragon Dictate" which allows me to dictate everything and the computer writes for me. Worth every penny and saves SO much stress on my hands so that I don't have to do the exercises as much.
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Summary of Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries: A Self-Care Program
This book offers a complete self-care program for those at risk and those already suffering from one of the most common and most debilitating occupational injuries. Guided by symptom charts, you select the best exercises for the movement patterns required by your work and learn how to restore the range of motion to overworked hands and arms.
Sharon Butler was working as a massage therapist and Hellerwork practitioner when she developed carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. Unable to sleep through the night because of the pain and concerned about her livelihood, she built upon her knowledge of connective tissue and developed a series of stretching exercises to gently relieve the tension in her body. After daily stretching in this way, her pain soon subsided. To prove that these exercises weren't just a fluke, Butler intentionally overworked her body to bring back her symptoms. While this may not have been the smartest move, her stretching program again relieved her pain.
The magic behind her powerful exercises is their focus on fascial tissue. Fascia, which is stronger than steel, holds the body together. It wraps around muscle fibers, bones, and tendons. (If you've ever looked at an uncooked piece of chicken and noticed the glistening white layer over the meat, you've seen fascia.) In people who overwork their bodies, the fascia hardens, a natural response to prevent future injury. Unfortunately, this stiffness worsens with repeated insults to the body. Muscles, nerves, and tendons tense up and inflame even more and may even adhere to each other. Metabolic waste products can build up and become trapped instead of being carried away by the lymph system, and even more pressure is placed on the affected body tissues.
Enter Butler's exercises. The book is arranged to let you pick and choose the correct stretches to suit your needs. Too much typing, guitar playing, or gardening? Stiff neck, tingling fingers, sore upper arms, or all three? However you developed your repetitive strain injury and whatever your upper-body symptoms (or if you're smart and you'd like to prevent such problems), there are multiple stretches in Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome to suit your needs. The book is arranged to help users develop a personalized stretching program with more than 40 stretches for the upper body, forearms, wrists, fingers, and thumbs to choose from. Butler thoroughly explains the importance of stretching and the correct (and incorrect) way to do it, and the exercises are lucidly illustrated.
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