Hi everyone. I am Yasuko and it’s time for Massage Monday. Per client’s request, this week I will show you a self-massage for carpal tunnel that I came across. I say it is very unusual because for carpal tunnel you would think you may massage around the wrist where the pain is but this one you will be massaging your pec muscles.
Do this on a side that you have the wrist pain. Put four fingers in your armpit and feel your ribs. Grab your pec muscles and glide along the ribs towards the center. Move the fingers lower and repeat until you reach the lower end of your chest line. You are not massaging just the pec muscles. It’s like you are peeling or scraping the pec muscles from the ribs.
Repeat this 1-2 minutes at a time and at least 3-4 times a day. This was based on the concept that many carpal tunnel cases are not really the inflammation in the wrist but rather from the adhesions of the tight chest muscles stuck to the ribs that’s pulling other muscles and joints to cause the pain.
This is a method created by an intuitive Japanese body care expert Rendou Sugimoto. I’ve seen other remedies by him and it’s fascinating because it’s very unconventional. Luckily, I don’t have a carpal tunnel so I can’t try this on myself but one of my friends in Japan who is a hair stylist happened to have taken his class and she told me this method was effective in treating her severe carpal tunnel. I have seen other testimonials too. So I think this is worth trying. And if you do try, I would love to hear your experience.
Here is another move you can do that my friend shared with me. She did this whenever she wanted to alleviate the wrist pain. Lift your arm up to your shoulder height and bend your elbow and wrist towards you as much as you can as long as it’s not too painful. Then turn the hand towards your thumb and hold for 5 seconds. Here’s how it looks from the back.
If you are interested in the acupressure points for the carpal tunnel, see below.
Massage Monday #554 Carpal Tunnel Massage in Armpit http://bit.ly/mm-554