This is Dr. Rob with your weekly health blog. I’ve been seeing a lot of people who work in front of the computer -most people work in front of the computer and text quite a bit- having problems with carpal tunnel syndrome. This is typically due to the position they’re putting themselves in: head forward, hand in a claw-like position. After awhile, the muscles in your hand begin shortening because of the constant position it’s put in.
Here’s one thing I want you to try for a week:
Get a rubber band, place it around your fingers, and as you’re driving or walking around, start pushing your fingers outward. Make sure the rubber band is not too thick just thin enough to provide resistance as you open up those muscles. If you keep opening those muscles, it will begin to develop the muscles on the opposite side of the hand.
That’s your homework for this week; you’ve got to do it a couple hundred times a day. You can easily do it while you’re driving or in front of the computer. You will see that you will soon have less pain in your hand.
We will talk more about how to correct forward head posture which is more complicated. Until then you can always call me at our office Bates Chiropractic at (310) 545-4188 or on our website: www.chiropractormanhattanbeach.com