I did a little project for the last couple of days. Nothing major, just the usual things required to build something.
Boy did it ever cause my carpal tunnel syndrome to flare up. I wear a pair of braces at night but I don't know how much good they do.

Anyone else know how to deal with this? Short of surgery that is.

Pneumatic nailers. I have one each for roofing (tho I should sell that, I don't do roofs any more) framing, finish and stapler.

Not carpal tunnel, but elbow and shoulder issues have pretty well eliminated hammers as an option for me outside of the occasional finish nail.

Paslode battery/fuel nailers if you're going to use them a lot. Lighter, no hose to drag around, no compressor needed. $$$ tho.

Sometimes at night people bend their hands forward toward their elbows and put strain around the Carpal tunnel. The braces are made to minimize or eliminate that movement. If you want to get more support you'd have to wear the braces full time. I have the carpal tunnel pretty bad. My hands are falling asleep all the time.

Had carpal tunnel pretty bad in the 1990s due to excessive keyboard work and lousy ergonomics. First doctor gave me braces from Walgreens and told me to wear them during the day and take lots of ibuprofen. Bad advice. It got worse.

Found a doctor that actually knew carpel tunnel, got braces that prevented all wrist movement designed for carpel tunnel, wore them only at night, no drugs, fixed posture/ergonomics at work. Got better across six months. No flare ups if I watch posture and ergonomics in spite of lots of keyboard work.

That was a while ago and methods may have changes. I hear some people do need surgery to fix it. The good doctor I had emphasized fixing the root cause and using surgery as a last resort.

Surgery didn't even help mine long term. I've got it bad in both hands. It helped for about a year before the dull pain and soreness came back if I do certain things such as driving or using a computer mouse. Very little numbness now at least. Vibrations get to me the worst. Ran the snowblower today for about 5 minutes before I had to call it quits.

I have both carpal tunnel (had the surgery and it helped a LOT) and I also deal with some neuropathy as the fallout from congenital cubital tunnel syndrome (I have an extra muscle that covers where the ulnar nerve sits; I've had 2 surgeries on each arm: first was to release the nerve - it's also when the doctor found out about the extra muscle, and then a year later to relocate the nerve because I was still having significant problems). My doctor told me that I'll likely have to have the carpal tunnel surgery again at some point within the next 10 years due to my activity level and age (27 at the time of the first surgery).

I just mostly-finished the first of 3 oak tabletops that will get bolted together in a U shape to act as my desk.

As PHPaul suggested, pneumatic nail guns are worth every penny. I have an 18ga and a "cmpact" palm nailer, both Harbor Freight specials, and both worth way more than the $40 total I spent on them.

I avoid vibrating tools as best I can. I find that my hands get numb relatively quickly, and at my usage level it lingers for a few minutes afterward. Not fun, but at least the sander I've been using is relatively light, and the handheld belt sander is relatively vibration free

My secret weapon, my ace-in-the-hole, though, is 5% lidocaine patches. They used to be really expensive, but they went generic in 2014-2015, so the insurance company is more willing to approve them. I first discovered them when Mom (who has a very bad back) gave me a couple to try when I first started having serious symptoms. 2 patches (one on the top of the hand/wrist, and one on the palm/bottom of the wrist), a wrist brace, and an hour later, I was feeling well enough that I forgot I was injured and started doing stupid things again. Now I have a prescription of my own, and use them primarily over the outside of my palm/outside of the wrist because that area communicates touch/temperature/pain via the ulnar nerve. I throw one on the area with the worst pain, and sometimes wear my wrist brace. It really helps when I forget myself and overdo it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vulrath,

A friend who had it bad and was a GC, converted all of his hammers to axe handle type instead of traditional straight handles.

This helped. I think he still needed surgery, but he found significant relief with the handle change, and the condition didn't come back post surgery.

Thanks to all who gave testimonials/advice. I do use a trim gun instead of a hammer where possible. Just general work of any sort requires the use of your wrists and I acknowledge that. I think my degree of CTS is mild by comparison and I shouldn't whine too loudly. I seem to get my wworst tingle going at 5:00am so it wakes me up a little early.
My daytime isn't too much of a problem.

Getting older has its pitfalls and hiccups. Y'all please take care and thanks again.

I got a mild case of carpal tunnel. Sitting on the couch browsing the web on my phone will make my fingers get numb. Push ups are also hard on my wrists. I know I bend my wrists at night when I curl up. I bought wrist guards by have a hard time wearing them all night.

I used to get it bad from a job I had. After I got off that job, it kinda went away.
However, I just tweaked my rotator cuff problem.

Dr. Weil recommends vitamin B-6:

https://www.drweil.com/health-...pal-tunnel-syndrome/