{"id":188,"date":"2019-01-30T16:34:35","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T16:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp\/?p=188"},"modified":"2019-01-30T16:34:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T16:34:35","slug":"fighting-carpal-tunnel-ways-to-prevent-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lisajohnsonfitness.com\/fighting-carpal-tunnel-ways-to-prevent-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighting Carpal Tunnel: Ways to Prevent It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t\n
I\u2019ve been feeling the very beginnings of carpal tunnel, some aching in my hands and wrists. Normally I ignore little nagging pains, but I\u2019m not going to mess around with this at all<\/em>. I\u2019m taking action, immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The aches came on during a huge writing week. I wrote something like 10,000 words on my trusty laptop and that, I fear, is the problem. Slouched on a couch, bad wrist angle \u2026 my keyboard is a source of income for me, so I need to be smart here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s what I\u2019m doing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ergonomics<\/strong>. I moved to a table to straighten my wrist angle which helped right away. You want the line from the bend of the elbow to be straight, flowing to the top of the hand with the knuckles curving down towards the keyboard. This keeps the wrist straight so the nerves traveling into the hand don\u2019t get constricted or pinched in any way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Writing smart. <\/strong>I can plow through a lot of writing in a short amount of time, so I would schedule a day to just write and write and write. Now I\u2019m spreading it out and taking breaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being careful with social media.<\/strong> I can hang out on social media for hours, some of it is work related now, but a lot of it is just me chatting with folks. Unfortunately, I\u2019ve had to curtail this a bit to give my hands a break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yoga.<\/strong> Yoga is the only exercise I have found that has clinical studies linking it to improvements with carpal tunnel. So a few downward dogs and planks in the morning seem to help a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stretches<\/strong>. The physical therapists recommend this and I\u2019ve been doing it; it definitely helps. Bend the top of your hand back towards your elbow. I\u2019ve been doing this up against a wall, or just by grabbing with my opposite hand and pulling. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds (or longer) until you feel your forearm muscles start to release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n