Soul Shine Health

Carpal Tunnel Wrist Protocols

First, it might not be just the carpal (wrist/thumb) area that is having problems. If the person is reaching forward a lot they might be pinching the shoulder area and/or the elbow area. Also sleeping on your side can contribute to the loss of feeling in the hands. Each is a prime area of nerve bundles that might be pinched. Stretching the shoulders/arms in all directions is always a good idea (especially toward the back part of your body at several different levels). If it is actually the carpal area, the best relief is to hourly stop what you are doing and to stretch the wrist/hand in all four directions. Bending the wrist as far as it will comfortably go and do this several times. (Palm to the arm, back of the hand to the arm, little finger to the arm and then thumb to the arm) Also, if you put the backs of the hands together and gently push till you can feel the resistance. The ideal form is to have the hands made a right angle to the arms and the arms to make a level line. Then with the whole arm straight, clear up to the shoulder put the fingertips on a solid low surface like a desk and gently push till you can feel the discomfort. The idea of keeping the arm straight is very important. (You will have to stand to accomplish this action most of the time). Then with the other hand grasp the arm just below the elbow (sometimes above the elbow) and work the muscles sideways with the idea of pulling those rubber bands and loosening them (like I said sideways rather than up and down the arm). It is always a good idea to do all of these exercises for both hands. The idea is to be balanced. Also, with the opposite hand massage the base of the thumb deeply to activate the muscles in and around there. You might find that this area is somewhat sensitive and will become less sensitive with massage and care. When you get a chance, in the evening, at home apply a hot (but not too hot) compress, then nothing, then a cold compress, then nothing. The amount of time for each of these 4 steps is equal time of each but between 5 to 15 minutes each. It is very important to do each of the 4 steps to allow your flesh to accomplish what it needs to do to heal from the inside out rather than a quick fix. If you have a daily routine that leaves your body feeling abused then the tender loving care might be a daily happening to repair tissues and relieve the pain. At night rather than curling the arms up when you sleep extend them with the palm up. That frees up the muscles from being twisted as it is when the palm is rotated downwards.

One of the main reasons that the hands/wrists end up hurting is that we make very small movements instead of very large movements. Our muscles don’t like the small repetitive ones that go on and on. We need to rest those muscles and also utilize different (larger) types of movements. This is why large stretching movements are so stress relieving and healing. The issue is that when it hurts we tend to hold it in one place hoping the pain will go away and that never happens. The pain either increases or the movement is restricted and then fixed in place. The more we do this stretching while we are in the midst of our activities the less pain we will experience and the more mobility and freedom we will enjoy. When we try to go back and heal prior injures we will experience pain so the trick is to keep the stretching to a point just below a the level of extreme pain but above what you experience most of the time. This works for any and every part of the body. Just remember to do the stretches in all directions to balance the movements. If not done in all directions you leave the body unbalanced and with a tendency to injure by omission of that particular movement.

The only way to get rid of restrictions is to work through them. To ignore them hoping that they will go away is not the best way to live life (because the pain doesn’t just go away with out the proper remedies).

I also recommend the use of ice and heat to assist the tissues to go back to their natural state of health. I recommend that if the tissues are in a state of inflammation (hot, red, swollen and painful, even if it is a old injury ) that ice be used for 5 to 15 minutes, then nothing for 5 to 15 minutes, then heat for 5 to 15 minutes, then nothing for 5 to 15 minutes,then ice, again for 5 to 15 minutes. (5 to 15 minutes is a choice but try to make the times each equal to the time before and after). Each time you use either ice or heat you must make sure that the temperature that you are using will not damage your tissues. If either heat or ice is left on the area it might feel good but the therapeutic part of the exercise has left and the long term results will not be as helpful as if you kept on with the different steps that I described above. Each time you use the ice the blood vessels shrink in size and send the blood in them back to the heart. The use of heat opens the blood vessels and brings in a fresh new supply of nutrient rich blood to heal the area at the cellular level. The reason for the time of nothing on the area is so that the blood vessels and tissues normalize so you can accurately feel and gage if what you are putting on your flesh is the right temperature to not burn or freeze you.

Another part of the puzzle is-drink enough water so your blood is flowing smoothly. People who do not drink enough water (or drink liquids that have caffeine in them) for their weight, their blood thickens and turns to sludge, as you can imagine this substance does not flow hardly at all, let alone enough to carry the nutrients with the speed that is needed by the body.

How Much Water Do You Drink Every Day?

We have all heard for years that we should drink a lot of water for the best health of our body and for optimal healing. We are electrical beings and to have your body working at the peak efficiency it needs to be constantly bathed in a solution of water in the cells.

We have been told by the doctors and other health experts that 8-8 ounce glasses a day is what they recommend. On the other hand, is that recommendation good for the 300-pound weight lifter as well as the 99-pound woman. That does not seem reasonable to me. An alternative idea has been put forward by holistic health advocates. Take your weight and divide it by 2 and use that answer, as ounces of water to drink per day. If you weigh 100 pounds your requirements is 50 ounces per day. If you weight 200 pounds your requirements will be 100 ounces. The closer we get to that formula the better it is for our good health. For those of us that weigh quite a bit we wonder how in the world will we ever be able to do that day after day. The trick is to build up to it. It is also better for our bodies that way. You will then be working daily with your personal requirements. The 300-pound weight lifter and the 99-pound woman are treating their bodies equally. Then if you loose weight you won’t need to drink as much but on the other hand if you gain weight you will need to be drinking more water.

When we say drink water we don’t mean coffee, tea, juice, soda, pop or anything else. Water only and only water. Anything that has caffeine in it takes water out of your system and then you are de-hydrated rather than the hydrated. Also when you are de-hydrated the water leaves your blood first and the results of that is a sludge rather than a smoothly flowing liquid. That results in slow brain functions and possible errors. You are left with sludge in your veins and organs struggling to get the nutrients around to the different parts of your bodies. Also you will be making your liver and kidneys work twice as hard to maintain your system. Every time you do drink caffeine drinks you will need to subtract that amount from the total of the water you have taken in and you will have to replace not only the water you didn’t drink but also the water that is removed from your system by the caffeine. True the caffeine gives you energy but it makes the body, work harder and wears it out faster. One of the theories is that we age faster and get diseases because our bodies are not fully hydrated. When you are fully hydrated the body is more able to remove previously acquired stress related ailments and symptoms. So, do the best for your life and drink enough water to keep your blood thin enough to be able to flow smoothly

Lower Back Pain (Sciatica)

Those of us that have lower back pain and/or Sciatica will do almost anything to relieve the Pain in our back side/leg. I have done quite a few things that look different (weird) to someone observing me but have felt good to release the pain. This technique that I have evolved I originally found in a massage magazine. If (like other stretches) done daily they will release and relax the muscles that are involved.

The muscles of the upper and lower back, upper legs and lower legs work as a system and all need to be as flexible as we were when we were young. There is not just one muscle that needs attention but the whole system. The way most of us live, in an upright and uptight condition and attitude does not assists us to be flexible in attitude and body.

The stretches are simple and easy to do but they should be done at least twice a day. I recommend they be done morning after you wake up and at night just before you slip into sleep.

You start out on your back and raise your legs up above your hips and spread the legs apart to the sides (do the splits-gently) move the legs back and forth sideways several times very gently, do not force at all. The next step is to lower your legs to the surface and make a pyramid of your knees, then place the soles of your feet together and gently lower the knees to the sides as in a butterfly motion. Only go as far as you feel the tension in your muscles and not to force, but to only stretch.

The next stretch is the reverse of the last one in that the feet are out to the side of the body and the knees are at the center. This time one knee at a time is put down to the surface at the center line of the body. First one knee then the other. This movement moves and stretches a different set of muscles than each of the other exercises. After the one knee movement put both knees down toward the surface, but do not touch them together. If they do touch move the feet outward to leave a small gap between the knees. Do each of these movements at least 4or 5 times. In each of these movements gently wiggle your hips to attain a maximum stretch.

If you have questions, please call  or email me at:

503-348-1489

nkbenergy@yahoo.com