The Best Treatment Method For Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

By Tom Nicholson

You might be surprised, but smokers have an increased risk of getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Because smoking lowers the supply of oxygen in the blood, including that which flows to the hand and wrist, smoking increases the chance of getting carpal tunnel syndrome. Smokers also have an increased risk of capillary tightening and inflammation. Therefore, if you smoke, quitting smoking can greatly reduce your chances of getting carpal tunnel syndrome flareups if you don't yet have them, and can reduce their severity if you already have carpal tunnel syndrome.

But, of course, quitting smoking in and of itself poses an enormous challenged to many people who smoke. Smoking is one of the most addictive habits in the world, so addictive that even though the people who do it know that it's extremely unhealthy and diminishes their physical performance capacity, they still do it and do it gleefully. Smokers feel that tobacco gives them a mental surge and helps to keep them calm under pressure. They also like the taste and the whole sensual experience of smoking. State and local governments have started taking advantage of this addiction to fill their coffers by imposing obscene taxes on tobacco sales. Of course, they sell this to the public with the statement that such high taxes will cause many people to voluntarily quit smoking. But they know better: relatively few people have, or will, quit smoking as a result of these taxes which the governments are depending on to make them even richer. This, again, just goes to show how hard it is to quit smoking.

Another problem with quitting smoking is that no two people are entirely alike, and so there is never certainty that what enables one person to quit smoking will enable another person to do so. So many different methods have been devised to help people put and end to their insidious habit.

One product on the market that has helped many smokers quit is the nicotine patch. The nicotine patch delivers a small but steady dose of nicotine in transdermal fashion, into the bloodstream so that the smoker who is trying to quit as their nicotine cravings subdued somewhat. It's thought that if nicotine is continually supplied to the body (even though a different method and at a lower dosage than that gotten through cigarettes), it takes the edge off the cravings just enough that smokers stand a good chance of quitting smoking. Some nicotine patch programs utilize a "step down" method, whereby decreasing dosages of nicotine or delivered over a period of time as the program continues. And indeed, the nicotine patch has been shown to be quite effective, with up to 55% of people using them having the ability to quit. However, patches aren't cheap and many people don't like having to wear them. In addition, they can be irritating to the skin, and it can be inconvenient to have to remember to change the patch every day. Beyond that, the nicotine patch only addresses the nicotine addiction, not the other reasons smokers smoke.

A psychological approach to quitting smoking can also be helpful. For example, some people may decide to quit smoking by gradually scaling back the number of cigarettes they smoke in a day. For example, they may start by scaling down one cigarette a day, getting used to that new lower number, and then dropping an additional cigarette once comfortable at the new lower level. Still other people decide to quit by keeping an unopened pack of cigarettes around "just in case" even though they've quit. Just the psychological support of having the pack available if they need it is support enough to keep them away from smoking.

Still other people and companies have devised many herbal and all-natural treatments. Some work for some people but quitting is always hard and uncertain.

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. - 30453

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