The most common types of injuries that musicians face are tendon injuries and nerve injuries. Both types can fall into the bucket of repetitive strain injuries, which is really just a fancy way to saying that your cup is overflowing. We’ve covered tendon injuries a little in the past (here and here), but we haven’t covered nerve injuries. So today we are going to dive into the most common nerve injury that musicians experience: Carpal tunnel syndrome.
This edition will take you through what carpal tunnel syndrome is, whether or not surgery is the only option (spoiler: it’s not!) and some exercises that you can try as a first line of treatment.
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Let’s dive in!
1) Why is my hand weak and tingling?
Having a solid understanding of what is going on with your body is the first step to improving any problem. Here’s a 5 minute video that give the best description of carpal tunnel syndrome that I could find. It goes deep enough to make sure that you have a thorough understanding of what’s going on while being accessible enough for anyone to understand.
Carpal tunnel syndrome – causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and pathology | Osmosis via YouTube
2) Is surgery necessary?
The video above ended by stating that the “definitive” treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome is surgery. That can be a frightening prospect, but it may not be accurate. While surgery is the most invasive treatment, in the long run it doesn’t always leave people better off than other less invasive options. Here’s the summary of a study that compared physical therapy to surgery. Long story short, at 1 year, the people in the surgery and physical therapy group were about the same in terms of pain and hand function. That being said, the quality of physical therapy probably matters. Included is a graphic that shows the types of physical therapy treatments that were included and found to be beneficial.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Physical Therapy or Surgery? | Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy
3) Carpal tunnel syndrome rehab exercises
If your are experiencing minor symptoms, the first step you can take is a few basic exercises to see if you can get things back on track. The link below has a nice group of exercises from Tom Walters, DPT of Rehab Science to get you started. He recommends starting with 1-2 sets of 10-15 repetitions, 1-2 times per day. Combine these with an over-the-counter wrist brace like this one, some finger tendon glides and some smart analysis about what might be causing your cup to overflow and you’ve got a decent shot at settling things down before the problem gets out of control.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Rehab Exercises | Rehab Science via Instagram
Sponsor: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Digital Rehab Program
The exercises above are a great place to start, but if you are interested in a more complete program, Rehab Science has created one. It’s very affordable ($14.99) and a perfect next step if you want a little more guidance, but aren’t yet ready to see a health care provider.
If the program above doesn’t do the job, or the problem has become big enough that you need to see a physical therapist, Rehab Science also has a program that can help connect you with a qualified physical therapist in your area.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Digital Rehab Program | Rehab Science (Affiliate: If you buy through this link, I get a small portion of the sale at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the Musician’s Maintenance mission!)