Article Offers Self Help for Signs and Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel
Syndrome

Before you do anything else, please read the following article:

It could very well be the most important article you will ever read, if you now have, or ever have had:

• Muscle Pain
• Joint Pain
• Back Pain
• Leg or Foot Pain
• Headaches

OR what is most commonly diagnosed as “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.” You are only a few short steps away from
becoming “Pain-Free.”

The Temple You Live in – Your Body!

By Julie Donnelly CEO, Julstro, Inc.

It has been my experience that people know more about their cars than they do about their bodies! We bring our car
in for the 3000-mile oil change. Rotate the tires, check all the fluids, and get it “detailed”. We don’t
argue with our mechanic when he tells us that we need to spend $300 for a few little adjustments that could turn
into major problem if left undone.

When we buy our car we pour over the Owner’s Manual. But, most people have never even glanced at the “Owner’s
Manual” for our bodies – an anatomy book. Most people don’t have any idea how a joint moves, what is the mechanism
that brings our hand to our shoulder, or turns our heads. We expect it to work flawlessly without ever doing anything
to flush away built-up toxins. In fact, most people aren’t even aware that toxins build up, never mind needing to
be flushed out.

It amazes me when someone is in pain, barely able to stand up straight or turn his or her head without pain. Yet,
when it is suggested that they see a deep muscle therapist to release the strains placed on the bones, their first
comment is “does insurance pay for this?” And, when the answer is “no” they just walk away!

When was the last time your auto mechanic accepted insurance to do a tune-up? When did your hairstylist take insurance
for your haircut? Yet, many individuals would rather keep the pain than pay out of pocket to have it relieved.

You body is a miracle of perfectly blended chemicals – the right amount of oxygen in your blood, a gland puts out
chemicals that causes you to send the right amount of insulin into your bloodstream, enzymes that tell your stomach
it is time to digest food. Too many people ignore their bodies until something goes wrong. They take for granted
that everything will run smoothly. Yet these same people would never buy a new car and not bring it in for regular
service – even if insurance doesn’t pay the bill.

Have you ever given any thought to how your body moves? The simple explanation is that a muscle pulls on a bone,
and the bone moves. I use an analogy that demonstrates this clearly. Look at a garage door that has an electric motor
to open and close it. The motor is on the ceiling, with a strong cable running over a track and connecting to the
door. The cable doesn’t go around a corner – perhaps it makes a curve, but not a sharp angle. When the motor is turned
on it pulls on the cable. The cable then pulls on the door, and the door goes up.

Muscles work in a similar manner. To demonstrate on the forearm and hand, the muscles of the forearm are the motors.
The muscles merge into tendons (the strong cable) and insert into the hand (the garage door). When the muscle pulls
on the tendon your hand moves. All muscles cross over a joint, with the insertion of the muscle always moving toward
the origination. Using our garage door example, it is to say that the door always moves toward the motor – the motor
doesn’t come down to the door.

Now, being a little creative with our garage door opener, let’s say that in order for the door to close again, there
is another motor on the ground, with a cable running to the bottom of the door. When that motor runs it pulls on
the cable, and the door shuts. In order for the garage door to shut the closing motor must pull and the opening motor
must release and allow its cable to lengthen.

You have opposing muscles that move your limbs (in this demonstration, your hand). Muscles on the top of your forearm
(called extensors) pull, and your hand opens and then it bends backward. To close your hand, muscles on the underside
of your forearm (called flexors) contract. As they do your fingers curl into a fist and your hand bends down at the
wrist. If the muscles on the top of the arm don’t release and stretch, you cannot close your hand. Likewise, if the
flexor muscles won’t stretch you cannot open your hand from the clenched position.

This is the case in every bone in your body – one muscle pulls, another must stretch. When you have pain it is because
the stretching muscle won’t let go! Think again of our garage door. If the closing motor is running pulling the door
down, and the opening motor is running trying to open the door up, something is going to have to break in order for
the door to move. While the two motors are pulling against each other there is a great deal of pressure placed on
the door – and eventually the strain will cause the cable to snap, or the door to crack. It is the same in your body.
Something has got to give – or there is no movement.

Another analogy I use is pulling hair. If you pull your hair hard on the end, you don’t feel it there, but you do
feel it in your scalp, where the hair inserts. If you continue pulling for a long time, you will get a headache,
and you could end up with inflammation at the scalp. Rubbing your scalp won’t help, drugs won’t help, and surgery
on your head won’t help. The only thing that will help is to let go of your hair!

In your body, when a muscle is pulling and the bone is unable to follow, perhaps because the opposing muscle is
also pulling in the other direction, you will feel the strain where the muscle inserts – at the joint! If you just
release the tight muscle it will stop pulling on the insertion point and the pain will stop. Then if you follow-up
with stretches you will lengthen the pulling (contracted) muscle and it will heal properly.

Knowledge of your body, of the muscles and where they originate and insert, will explain why you are having a pain
at any given joint. If you ask “which muscle inserts here” and “which muscle needs to be stretching
in order to make this move” you will quickly figure out what is causing you pain. Now you just need to know
how to find and treat the spasm (much easier than you can imagine), and finish with some stretches.

It is vital that you learn about the body you live in. Your car can be traded in for a new model, but you will live
in this temple for years to come. You should know it better than you know your car, and care for it properly. You
don’t get a replacement model!

Julie Donnelly, LMT, is a deep muscle therapist in New City, NY. She is the developer of the Julstro
techniques that have been designed to quickly find the spasms that are holding the muscles tight, and to release
and stretch the muscles.

Julie is also the author of “How To Be Pain-less…A Beginner’s Guide To The Self
Treatment of Muscle Spasms”. She is also the developer of the Julstro Self-Treatment System for relief of Carpal
Tunnel Syndrome, offering Carpal Tunnel self help and exercises.