How Does Manual Physical Therapy Help Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

You know the pain, numbness, and tingling that it causes will make it hard to do many of the things you enjoy if you have carpal tunnel syndrome. The good news is that there are many ways to relieve your symptoms.

What Can a Physical Therapist Provide?

A physical therapist is a medical professional who can help you recover strength and mobility by working with you to of the pain. They can prescribe something called “gliding” movements if they specialize in hand physical therapy. These rely on tendons and nerves. The aim is to help decrease discomfort and improve mobility.

A brace may also be recommended by your therapist. In the evening, you will wear this to keep your wrist straight. And during the day, when you do things that could make your symptoms worse, you should wear it.

Some other things your physical therapist might suggest are:

• You should make adjustments to help reduce the symptoms at work, at home, and in your free time.
• Ultrasound, the use of high-frequency vibrations, to decrease symptoms
• A special hand traction system to help expand the area of your carpal tunnel by stretching

Will Physical Therapy Work for Me?

That depends on how well you respond to therapy and whether you will be improved by physical therapy to achieve your goals of pain relief and better hand function.

But research is promising.

In a recent study, 120 women with carpal tunnel syndrome were divided by doctors in Spain into two categories. One party underwent surgery. Physical therapy was used to treat the other group. In their arms and hands, the therapists concentrated on the soft tissue. The aim was to avoid median nerve irritation, the culprit behind the disease.

Several times over a year, researchers followed up with both groups of women. What they learned was that both physical therapy and surgery could help, but in the short term, physical therapy led to better results. In contrast with those who had surgery, the women who underwent counseling had less pain and improved function much earlier.

Could physical therapy help your carpal tunnel syndrome? Chat with your doctor. Your physical therapist will follow up with your doctor and chat about your progress and make other suggestions if you want to have therapy.

What About Physical Therapy After Surgery?

Doctors recommend it to help your wrist get stronger.

But the advantages do not end there: your therapist will also support you to avoid any complications from treating your surgical scar. To help you recover mobility and flexibility after surgery, they may also prescribe particular exercises.