3 min read

Dr. Kevin Marryshow

Posted on

Education

How To Avoid Carpal Tunnel

 

The term Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a huge faux pas in the office world. We have glorified it like this “deceased-like” occurrence that signifies your life is over.

But contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t have to be like that. Here are four fantastic tips on how to avoid or deal with the carpal tunnel.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is defined as a condition that affects the median nerve that causes hand pain and numbness/tingling, specifically the thumb, index finger, middle finger and the outer half of your ring finger.

The actual “carpal tunnel” is a band of ligaments that runs along the inside of the palm and is not the wrist itself, where many are led to believe it is. Running in this “tunnel” is the median nerve which controls the affected fingers. For reasons such as repetitive work (typing, drilling, texting) this “tunnel” gets tight and restricted, which cut’s of the median’s nerve ability to send sound information to the hand.

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CTS shouldn’t even be called a syndrome. A syndrome is a detrimental term. However, CTS occurs when you do things that cause the “tunnel” to get tight. If we look at it this way, it’s easy to be motivated to take control back and fight back against it.

Here are the essential tips you need to do to avoid CTS

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Avoid prolonged extreme wrist motion in either direction

  • Avoid activities that bring your wrist into end range flexion or extension. Those positions are aggravating to the carpal tunnel and should be prevented whenever possible.
  • Just like your muscles your nerves need maintenance too. Stretching and moving your median nerve is an excellent way to free up the nerve, so it has the freedom to move and flow without restrictions.

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Self-mobilizations you could do are “free the bird” and “backup”

Free the Bird Instructions

  • Just like your muscles your nerves need maintenance too. Stretching and moving your median nerve is an excellent way to free up the nerve, so it has the freedom to move and flow without restrictions.
  1. Start by looking down at your hand as you hold it face up in front of your chest (holding the bird)
  2. Extend your arm, wrist and fingers as you turn to look at your hand (free the bird)
  3. Proceed to look away if tolerated

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Back Up Instructions

  1. Start by bringing both arms up in front of you
  2. Extend your wrists and fingers
  3. Slowly reach away from your body

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Take breaks when doing repetitive tasks

  • Repetitive tasks have become a staple in our lives so taking micro-breaks to give your wrists a break from typing, or gripping is always a great idea.

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Seek out professional advice

  • Manual therapy is a good way to reduce the effects of CTS. Often nerves can get tethered or caught in fascia or between muscles. “Releasing” the nerve from any restrictions is an excellent way to unlock nerves and ensure that they are moving and gliding as optimally as possible.

3 min read

A Weak Butt Causes Hip Pain

Posted on

Education

A Weak Butt Causes Hip Pain

If you’re feeling hip pain, it’s probably because you’re not walking around enough, and you’re not activating your butt enough.

If you’re not texting on your phone, you’re sitting at your desk hunched over, working away on your laptop. Time flies, and next thing you know, you’re getting up for a walk, but only after a couple hours have passed.

Although you’re working hard, you’re not working your butt enough. And even though you may not feel any pain now, the mid-day walk to grab lunch will eventually catch up to your hips.

To get a better idea how your butt is related to your hip pain, allow us to explain.

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This important group of muscles do this as their major actions:
Medius: abducts the hip (hip to the side)
Maximus: extends the hip (pulls the thigh behind you)
Minimus:abducts the hip (hip to the side)

These important muscles are often weak and underworked. So many of our jobs require us to sit for prolonged periods of time. The lack of mobility causes our gluten to “turn off” or stop firing as effectively. Once our glutes stop firing, we start developing imbalances within the hip which can lead to aches and eventual hip pain.

When building strong glutes, you can expect to see some of these things happen along the way:

Alleviate back pain: Learning to contract your glutes in a multitude of ranges can alleviate a lot of the mechanical back pain you are currently experiencing. Your glutes work to stabilize the pelvis and keep the hip joint centered. When they’re strong, your lower back doesn’t need to compensate and take excessive mechanical stress.

Increase performance: If you want to maximize your athletic potential, squatting should be a top priority. Stronger glutes will improve your speed, agility, and jumping skills, and quick side-to-side movements. Every time you take a step, your glute max stabilizes your pelvis, making transitions into movements safe on your pelvic joints and ultimately your back.

Abolish knee pain: A strong glute medius keeps the pelvis stable and prevents swaying from side to side. When your pelvis isn’t stable, it puts a lot of excessive pressure on your knees and ankles. When your glutes are strong, it helps to maintain proper alignment of the knee, hip and ankle. This natural alignment keeps your knee from hurting by tracking the knee cap properly.

Try out these 3 movements and see if you can hold the positions for 1 minute each with total control.

This will give you a good indicator of how well your glutes are doing.

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Kick backs

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Single leg bridges

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Side Clamp