What I Learned at a Recent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Seminar

Yesterday I attended a really excellent seminar in Harrisburg called "Effective Treatments for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" which was given by Cross Country Education.

Here are some things I learned:

1.  Bodyworkers need to address the entire median pathway when treating CTS, not just the arm and wrist.  This means specific neck and shoulder work.

2. Besides repetitive movements, some of the contributing factors to carpal tunnel syndrome are:   poor posture, vitamin B6 deficiency, pregancy (edema), the use of vibrational tools, long periods of time in cold environments, soft tissue dysfunction,  misdiagnosis and lack of information about the condition

2. Most doctors, upon giving a diagnosis of CTS, immediately want to do surgery.

3. Surgery should be a last resort for CST.

4. If you do put a rubber band around your fingers then open and close your hand for 20 seconds, a couple of times a day, you'll increase hand strength.

5. Dry skin brushing is a good way to warm the tissue before working on the fascia.  It feels like heaven.

6.  The instructor was Gary Adkins from Michigan.  He has about 20 years of bodywork experience and knew the material inside and out.  He kept the class engage with humor, superb preparation and lots of hand-on practice.

 7.  You can do some interesting neck work using a towel.

8.  If you run around the room taking pictures of people on the massage table, you never know when someone will pick up your camera and take your picture.

  8.  It was fun being the student for a change.