If you have carpal tunnel syndrome, you might need to reduce inflammation your body to either prevent carpal tunnel syndrome or at least subdue the symptoms. If you have inflammation, this can cause even greater swelling of the ligaments and joints so the pressure is put on the median nerve, which can cause CTS symptoms to flare up. How can you reduce your information?
For the most part, beginning to reduce inflammation as it relates to CTS begins with using anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen or aspirin. If you have trouble with health problems caused by thinning blood, you should stay away from these, but for many people, these are safe and effective when taken in over-the-counter formulations and when used as directed. If you take over-the-counter medications like aspirin or ibuprofen, you won’t need to get a prescription. Make sure you take the drugs with water so that the medications are fully absorbed and therefore the active ingredients are fully effective. Most of the drugs, you’ll find, will say that you should take them every four to six hours, not to exceed a certain dosage (check the label) within 24 hours. Again, keep in mind that these drugs can cause stomach bleeding, so they’re not benign, even though they can be obtained over the counter. Therefore, take with caution and always follow directions.
In addition, you can help carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms by minimizing use of the wrist that’s affection as much as possible for about two weeks. After this amount of time, you can try to use it more and see if taking the NSAID medications made any difference. If possible, wear a wrist brace at night to further stabilize the affected wrist and help it heal. If it’s not feeling much better, you should see your doctor and ask for further intervention. Special anti-inflammatory drugs only available by prescription, such as corticosteroids, may be able to help your pain. These are more powerful than the drugs that are available over the counter, and they do contain steroidal medications, which may have side effects.
There are also natural anti-inflammatories you can ingest simply as a part of your diet. Again, these aren’t entirely benign, since although they are food and therefore “natural,” they may be contraindicated if you take certain medications. Therefore, before you make any major changes to your diet, you should check with your doctor and make sure there are certain things you shouldn’t ingest. There is one truly benign change you can probably make your diet, which is to reduce or eliminate your consumption of fatty red meat. These types of foods often encouraged inflammatory responses in your body, and simply eliminating them from your diet can greatly reduce inflammation. Instead of eating hamburger, each game meat like venison or lean, grass fed beef. Chicken and fish, too, are beneficial. Getting more omega-3 fatty acids in your diet will also help reduce inflammation in the body. Reduce or eliminate your consumption of dairy and replace it with soy. Greatly reduce your consumption of refined sugars and carbohydrates such as corn syrup, white flour and white sugar, as these can encourage inflammation in the body. Do get plenty of green, leafy vegetables, fresh and frozen fruits like berries (with no sugar added), drink plenty of water, and eat plenty of whole grain or complex carbohydrates. Minimize or eliminate “high glycemic” carbohydrates like corn and potatoes.
If you think this is excessive to treat carpal tunnel syndrome, at least give it a try before you make a final decision. You may find that making these changes so improves your symptoms that the small amount of deprivation you feel by following a much stricter diet is absolutely worth it. In addition, there are some exercises you can do to strengthen your hand, wrist and forearm so that your CTS symptoms are reduced or even eliminated.
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