What Is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)?

CTS is a condition in which the median nerve is compressed as it travels through the wrist at the carpal tunnel and causes pain, numbness and tingling. These symptoms cause weakness on your grasp and disturb you to perform activity of daily living. Frequent use of keyboard or typing usually will cause CTS.

These symptoms sometime wake you in the middle of night. Then they will shake the hand to ease the pain and reduce numbness. When they wake up in the morning they will feel like swelling on the hand and difficult to grasp.

According to study, median nerve respond to you sense of touch and allow you to pick up and hold objects. When this nerve compressed, it will disturb function and cause numbness and weakness of your hand.

Therapeutic Activities For CTS.

Therapeutic activities are meaningful task in daily routine as you’re responsible to yourself, your family, work and community. When you are affected, it will disturb your performance. Here are few therapeutic activities to reduce symptoms of CTS:

1. Use work simplification such as:

• Blender compared to “lesung batu / penggiling”
• Trolley to transport things
• Divide huge component to small parts before lifting/ carry
• Plan the tasks / reschedule
• Delegates the task

2. Use support device such as splint to limit your repetitive wrist movement.            

 The functions of support device is to limit repetitive movement of your wrist such as typing, chopping and writing. You are advice to use splint during day time while performing task and at night. It is important to get the right support device that helping in reducing symptoms of CTS.

3. Doing simple hands exercise.

It is important to us to aware symptoms of CTS and avoids worsening condition. Remember, prevention is better than cure.

Reference

1. Occupational Therapy for Physical Dysfunction (6th Edition).Catherine A. Trombly Latham.
2. Scott, Kevin R.; Kothari, Milind J. (October 5, 2009). “ Treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome”
3. McCartan, B; Ashby, E; Taylor, EJ; Haddad, FS (2012 Apr). “Carpal tunnel syndrome.” British journal of hospital medicine (London, England: 2005) 73 (4): 199–202.
4. Fuller, David A. (September 22, 2010).”Carpal Tunnel Syndrome”. eMedicine.
5. Foster, M. (2002) “Theoretical Frameworks”, In: Occupational Therapy and Physical Dysfunction, Eds. Turner, Foster & Johnson.
6. Colman, W. (1992). Maintaining autonomy: The struggle between occupational therapy and physical medicine. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 46, 63-70.
7. Brownson, C. A.; Scaffa, M. E. (2001). “Occupational therapy in the promotion of health and the prevention of disease and disability statement”. American Journal of Occupational Therapy 55 (6).