Sunday, January 07, 2007

Carpal Tunnel--Oy!

Being invincible in all things (ha, ha), I had hoped I would not have to worry about Carpal Tunnel. Alas my luck ran out in November. For those of you that aren’t sure what Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is, it’s a condition where the rigid passageway for tendons and nerves between the forearm and the hand (the Carpal Tunnel) is compressed by either fluid, bone, or tight tendons, thus putting unnatural pressure on the nerve. What it feels like, for me, was a fast onset of intense pain at different areas between my wrist, thumb and first two fingers—it will not affect the pinky or ring finger as that’s linked to different nerves. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is caused by repetitive motions, such as, get this, typing! The intensity for me lasted several minutes, and the area turned dark purple and swollen. I iced it and it eventually dulled to an ache that stayed on the rest of the day while causing limited movement in the affected area. I wasn’t sure what it was and asked around—yep, carpal tunnel. Lucky for me I know Tristi Pinkston!

Tristi Pinkston is an avid writer and good friend (www.tristipinkston.com) who herself suffered from Carpal Tunnel as a teenager. When facing imminent surgery, she researched the problem and found this solution. I have since recommended it to friends suffering from CTS and every one of them that followed the instructions said their recovery was nothing short of amazing.

The Pinkston Plan

1. Go to the health food store and get a large bottle of flax seed oil capsules (not the liquid—yuck). Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club or a Costco will be your cheapest option.

2. Also get a B complex vitamin.

3. For the first week, take 8 flax seed capsules and four B's every day. Break that up so you’re not taking it all at once, say, 4 in the morning and 4 at night, otherwise you'll want to throw up.

4. For the second week, take 6 flax seed and 4 B, and stay at that dose for the next three weeks.

5. On week five, cut down to 4 and 2, and stay on that for about three weeks.

6. Forever after that, take 2 flax and 1 B every single day as a maintenance.

7. You should also go to a chiropractor and make sure don’t have any vertebrae pinching those nerves.

What will happen is that the flax will flush out all the toxins from your joints, and the Vitamin B will nourish them making the Carpal Tunnel more flexable, thus decreasing the compression. Some people worry about taking so much oil, but this is one of the good oils and will also help reduce cholesterol. (which I also have problems with so yeah me!)

Bottoms up—so far so good for me, I haven’t had a flair up since I started, and I’m on week two.

If you have an additional tips or suggestions, bring em on!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My cousin bought one of those wrist braces and wore it every day for a couple of months. Then whenever she has a hard time with it she puts the brace back on for a couple of days. I'll have to tell her about this though, she's thinking of quitting her job because of how bad it gets sometimes. She's a medical transcriptionist. Thanks for the tip!!

Tristi Pinkston said...

The thing with the wrist brace is that it helps you feel better while you're wearing it, but when you take it off, the pain comes right back. I had a pair of braces and learned the hard way.

Cool for mentioning me in your blog, Josi! I didn't know you were doing it and found it just now.

Darvell Hunt said...

I had carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand when I was in college at about age 21 or maybe 22. Oy, talk about starting early. I began working heavily on computers starting in 1978 when I was about ten years old, if you can believe it. I've been on them ever since, not just for writing, but in providing for my family at my full-time job.

Fortunately, the surgury worked for me and I haven't had a single symptom since in that hand. Unfortunately, my left hand wasn't bad enough at the time for surgury and I've been suffering with it for almost 20 years now (oh, gosh, am I getting old?).

Darvell

Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen said...

This was a huge help to me. Thanks, tons! Besides following this prescription, I also purchased an ergonomic keyboard and mouse and moved them lower so they are more level with my chair's arm rests. So far, so good!