Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Massage Therapy - Can Massage Help Carpal Tunnel Pain?

If you have carpal tunnel syndrome, there is no doubt in my mind that you would find therapeutic massage to be a great help. 

Of course, being a long-time massage therapist, I am highly biased about the value of massage.  I fully believe in the benefits, and have seen so many people heal from so many painful conditions.

So what does massage do for carpal tunnel pain?

Massage warms your muscles.  It removes restrictions in the muscles and soft tissues.  It relaxes tight, sore muscles and helps normalize them.

You developed carpal tunnel syndrome because some of your muscles were being used more than others.  Some muscles became "too tight" and others were allowed to be a bit too stretched, or lengthened.  When this occurs, muscles become unhappy.

Your muscles are telling you about their stress and strain by causing carpal tunnel pain for you.  The muscles that are involved in your carpal tunnel syndrome (a syndrome is a collection of symptoms) might be in your neck, your shoulder, your upper and lower arm, between your ribs and shoulder blade, or in and around your wrist and hand.

Here's a little story.  A couple of months ago, I fell and dislocated my elbow and caused a lot of soft tissue pain and dysfunction from hand to shoulder.  My symptoms were very much like carpal tunnel syndrome.  It was a similar injury that was caused instantly.  I couldn't even type and my fingers didn't "work."

What did I do?

I did the things that felt most natural to me.  I waited a few days for the most intense discomfort to settle down, because sometimes muscles need a break. 

I paid attention to what my muscles were doing, especially if it was something I did NOT want them to do.  For instance, I noticed that my arm felt a little better if I held it with my elbow bent into a right angle.  But, I also noticed that my arm felt like it was going to "freeze" in that position.  Since it's not a good thing for muscles to shorten and tighten, I didn't want that to happen.

I made a conscious effort to hold and sleep with my arm in a more open position, so the muscles would be lengthened rather than getting short and tight.

I used some ice for the first few days and used some heat later.  Ice and heat are both good natural therapies when used at the appropriate times for the right conditions.

And, I did a lot of self-massage and I had two really deep massages to help rehabilitate my arm muscles.  These massages treated all of the muscles from my back and neck to my hand.

Was the massage uncomfortable?

Well, whenever muscles are "tight" and kind of stuck, massage can cause some discomfort.  This is because the muscles aren't used to being pushed and pressed into.  And, it's unavoidable.  If the massage pressure is too light, it doesn't cause enough change to take place in the muscles that are causing your carpal tunnel syndrome.

A really light massage might feel pleasant, but it may not give you any relief at all.  And if you have decided to seek professional therapeutic massage to help get rid of your carpal tunnel symptoms, you want benefit.  A deeper massage will give you more benefit.