Carpal Tunnel Post-Surgical Exercises

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the medial nerve in the wrist becomes irritated due to excessive use, poor ergonomics or trauma, resulting in pain in the wrist, forearm or hand. Severe cases of carpal tunnel may require surgery to treat; after surgery strengthening and stretching exercises can help rehabilitation and prevent further injury.

Wrist Movement

• When recovering from surgery, it is important to be wary of starting up activity too soon. You won't be able to go right into strenuous exercises like wrist curling with weight a few days after surgery. Ask your doctor about how soon you can resume exercise to strengthen your wrist, hand and forearm.

  One of the most important aspects of rehabilitating an injured joint is maintaining flexibility and range of motion. To maintain range of motion in your wrist, you can perform some simple wrist movement exercises. Start by moving you hands forward as if you are going to touch your wrists with your fingers. Hold the wrist in this position for a few seconds then shift the hand straight back, as if you are getting ready to palm a basketball. Go back and forth several times, stretching the wrist forward and back. Keep your fingers in front of your palm throughout the exercise.

Finger Movement

• Another important aspect of hand health is keeping the fingers limber and pain free. Begin by opening your palm with your fingers spread apart, and then try to touch your thumb to your palm, just below the little finger. Next, open your hand and touch the fleshy area of the thumb with your forefinger, and then middle finger, and so on until you get to your little finger. Once you reach your little finger, reverse the exercise, going back down the line until you finish by touching the thumb to the palm. Go through this sequence several times in a row to keep the fingers loose.

Strengthening Exercises

• After several weeks of recovery and range of motion exercises, you may be ready to move on to strengthening your forearms and hands. Strong muscles promote stronger tendons and ligaments which can help the body resist injury, but stop any exercise that causes pain. One easy way to strengthen the wrist and hand is to use a grip ball. A grip ball is a palm sized sphere of flexible material that will deform when pressure is applied to it by the hands, but will return to its original shape when pressure is absent. Grip balls are useful because you can use them any time your hands aren't otherwise occupied, like when you are talking on the phone. To further strengthen the forearms, you can do wrist curls. To do wrist curls, take a light weight such as a bottle of water or a dumbbell, place your forearm on a flat surface with the hand extending off the end, and curl the weight up and and down (your palm should be facing up.) As you build strength and stability in your wrists, you can gradually increase the amount of weight you use.