I have a post about carpal tunnel syndrome causes and relief, in which I briefly mentioned some products and gift ideas that are recommended for those with carpal tunnel pain. This post goes into the details of best and most practical gift ideas for someone who’s suffering from carpal tunnel pain.
Carpal tunnel pain and wrist pain can seriously affects your work and your daily activities as besides the irritating pain, you may also lose the power of your grip. Your hand and fingers become less flexible, making some simple activities like holding things, turning door or car keys, typing, writing etc. suddenly become harder and painful.
Blow are some gift ideas that may work for you or your friends or loved ones. As always, if possible, consult with your doctors first. For all the products below, it’s best to spend some time to read what other people have to say about using them.
Carpal tunnel gift #1
Wrist braces
The most common products, recommended and prescribed by doctors for carpal tunnel relief are wrist braces. Wrist brace can come under different names like wrist support, wrist stabilizer or wrist splint; regardless of the names, the braces are basically to help give the wrist and carpal tunnel area adequate support and keep it in proper position. Additionally, some braces also provide compression to stimulate blood circulation resulting in an almost immediate decrease of pain and increase of grip and flexibility of your hand, wrist and fingers.
Most wrist braces are easy to wear and take off and are made with “breathable” materials, so that wearers won’t feel uncomfortable when wearing for a long period of time (several hours per days continuously for several months). At the time of writing this post, Mueller Fitted Wrist Brace is among the top and highly recommended brace.
There’re also other kinds of wrist splints that position themselves as heavy duty and may also be used for working out and weightlifting. One example is JunoSports Adjustable Athletic Wrist Brace. This brace functions the same way as the other ones; the main difference is may be the strap around the thumb and more mobility for the whole wrist and hand area; thus more suitable for physical activities.
Carpal tunnel gift #2
Pain Relief Cream
Like with back pain, neck pain, or shoulder pain, one of the first and simplest treatments people usually do (together with other prescription and medical treatment) is to apply some pain relief cream over the pain area. The cream can be applied on the wrist with a little pressure or no pressure at all. The pain relief cream can help with blood circulation, thus help reduce the carpal tunnel pain
At the time of writing this post, Penetrex pain relief cream is perhaps the most popular and the most highly rated cream that has helped thousands of people quickly alleviating pain. However, Penetrex is not the only effective product, Biofreeze Pain Reliever has also proven to be effective with different types like roll-on, spray or cream. Biofreeze Pain Reliever claims to be the #1 clinically used and recommended topical analgesic of hands-on healthcare professionals such as chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists, podiatrists and athletic trainers to provide immediate pain relief from many common conditions such as arthritis and other causes of muscle and joint pain.
Carpal tunnel gift #3
Electronic Pulse Wrist Massager (FDA Cleared)
I introduced this massager in a post about back pain and want to re-introduce it here because it has worked wonders for different people that I knew, including my mom and my uncle. It works for not just wrist pain, but also for arm, elbow, knee and foot pain etc., which makes buying or gifting this special massager makes a lot of sense since we can use and re-use it extensively for different pain relief purposes. The product has buttons that are clearly labelled with words like “Neck”, “Shoulder”,”Back”, Wrist” etc.
This type of product is categorized under TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) and/or EPM (Electronic Pulse Massager) category. The technology is used widely in sport and pain management. You can search for more details later, but in the meantime you can see more description of the product and why thousands of people have rated this specific Electronic Pulse Masager very high.
Carpal tunnel gift #4
Ergonomic keyboard and ergonomic mouse
Like the cushion above, these gifts are for those who are using computer for long hours almost everyday. Ergonomic keyboards are designed to encourage a more natural and harmonic shoulder, forearm and positions, thus help reduce carpal tunnel pain or the risk of having carpal tunnel syndrome. Most keyboards have curved and split layout with additional most commonly-used button such as the email or internet buttons. Although the special layout makes the keys easier to reach, with most of us growing up using the traditional keyboards, personally I think the ergonomic keyboard does slow us down and thus maybe help with the pain.
I have used the ergonomic keyboard and found it comfortable for the posture; the ergonomic mouse, on the hand, looks pretty strange with a track ball. My co-worker had to use it because of her chiropractor’s suggestion. She said it took her a while to get used to all the ergonomic tools, and also said she didn’t really like the tools but found they did help with her carpal tunnel pains. Who knows, despite the odd look, you may like it as I saw thousands of people give it pretty good reviews and ratings. Again, for this kind of device, it may take some time to get used to it, and once you are comfortable with the device, it’ll help greatly in the long run.
Carpal tunnel gift #5
Wrist / carpal tunnel cushion
This carpal tunnel (wrist) cushion is designed for those who do office work and use the computer and mouse a lot everyday. The cushion provides comfort and support for the carpal tunnel area and help reduce overuse injuries as well as the pain associated with it. Most carpal tunnel cushions are made with anti-microbial material, which as its name imply helps prevent the growth of microorganisms such as odor-causing bacteria. Several people I know, myself included, don’t suffer from carpal tunnel syndromes or wrist pain, but we’re still using the cushion because of the comfort and soft to the touch. It’s a nice to have item.