Treatments for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common “repetitive injury” disorder that can have an increased incidence in smokers. Because smoking diminishes the amount of oxygen in the blood, this means that the supply of oxygen to the body is also diminished, including that to the hands and wrists. When you smoke, you also have more problems with inflammation and capillary narrowing. Therefore, flareups of carpal tunnel syndrome can be reduced or prevented if you don’t yet have it if you are a smoker and you quit smoking.

Of course, quitting smoking isn’t easy, and it’s an enormous challenge to smokers who want to quit. Smoking is easily one of the most addictive habits out there, such that it has been compared to heroin addiction, for example. Therefore, smokers continue to smoke even though they know it’s not healthy and negatively impacts the physical health and performance. Some even do it with an “I dare you” sort of attitude, feeling that it is indeed their right to do so. And it’s true that tobacco does have at least short-term benefits to smokers, which are indeed powerful or they wouldn’t keep doing it. Smoking can be very enjoyable to those who do it, and can give them the ability to have some mental focus and to stay calm under pressure. Some smokers like the taste and feel that it is actually a sensual experience to smoke. To try to up the ante, so to speak, state and local governments have recently increased cigarette and other tobacco products’ taxes significantly, in the hopes that this will force people to quit. However, most people have not quit because of these increased taxes, and governments at least have an additional source of income to fill their coffers. Still, even faced with these greatly increased taxes, many smokers still continue to smoke.

Making the decision to quit smoking is difficult for anyone, and it’s compounded by the fact that no two people are absolutely alike, so that one method that will help one person quit smoking is going to be completely useless to another. To that end, many different methods have been formulated to help people quit smoking.

One relatively recent development on the market that has helped smokers break the habit is the nicotine patch. The nicotine patch is a transdermal patch that attaches to the skin’s surface and delivers a slow, steady stream of nicotine through the skin into the bloodstream. Although nicotine isn’t the only chemical in cigarettes, it is considered to be the one that is the most addictive in cigarettes; therefore, by partially “replacing” the dosage of nicotine gotten through cigarettes with a different method of delivery, the transdermal patch, the craving for cigarettes can be eased enough that for many people, smoking cessation is possible. Some patch programs advocate using the “step down” method, with different strengths of patches used throughout the smoking cessation program. For example, a stronger dosage of nicotine is delivered with the first patches when the program is begun, and gradually, the dosage of nicotine is reduced. And it is true that these patches can be quite effective, with up to 55% of people using them having the ability to break the habit. One drawback to these patches is that they aren’t cheap, and they also don’t address every reason smokers may smoke. They can be inconvenient to wear, and they can irritate the skin where they’ve been placed as well.

Another way to quit smoking is by using a psychological approach. In this case, smokers may begin to gradually reduce the number of cigarettes they smoke on a daily basis, such as one fewer a day than normal; when this new lower level of smoking is comfortable, they drop another cigarette out of their daily allotment. Once smokers reach a level at which they only smoke a cigarette or two a day, they may be able to quit. Still other smokers keep an unopened package of cigarettes around to have “just in case,” but the psychological effect of having a pack of cigarettes there to smoke should they have a craving is enough to keep them away from the cigarettes.

There are also those who have developed supplements, whether herbal or other “natural” supplements, to help people quit smoking. Again, these do work for some people, but quitting itself is a crapshoot for many smokers, and no one method works for everyone.

If you have trouble tunnel syndrome and you don’t want to try to quit smoking to help resolve it, there are also exercises you can do that will diminish the symptoms if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, and that will help prevent it if you don’t have it yet. In addition, doing the exercises even if you have carpal tunnels syndrome may help reverse damage even if it’s already been done. Give them a try; you can look them up and try them out to see if this reduces your symptoms.

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