"At first the symptoms come and go and usually are affected by excessive use of the hand, although there may be no symptoms when the hand is at rest," Hengy said. "As the condition worsens and pressure on the nerve becomes greater, the person may experience constant numbness."

If you think you may have CTS, ask your primary care physician to review your medical history and examine your hands and wrists. One or all of the following tests can help confirm a diagnosis of CTS, he said:

• Tinel's Sign Test. The doctor will gently tap the front of your wrist to see if you feel tingling or pain in your hand or forearm.
• Phalen's Sign Test. The doctor will ask you to bend your wrist down as far as it will go and to hold this position up to three minutes to see if you feel tingling or pain.
• Nerve Condition Velocity Study. This test measures the nerve's ability to send electrical impulses to the hand muscles, to see if the electrical impulses slow down in the carpal tunnel.
• Blood tests and X-rays of the hands may reveal whether CTS stems from a medical problem.

"For some patients exercising can temporarily relieve the pain," Hengy said. He recommends performing the following four-step exercise 10 times a day, especially before starting an activity. Start with your arms outstretched in front of you as if typing:

Step 1: Slowly bend your hands back at the wrists with fingers fully extended. Hold for 10 seconds, then straighten your wrists.

Step 2: Stretch your arms and hands forward with fingers fully extended and hold for 10 seconds. Be careful not to push too hard and cause pain. Return to the starting position.

Step 3: Make a tight fist and hold for 10 seconds. Release.

Step 4: Straighten your wrist and extend the fingers fully for 10 seconds. Return to Step 1; do four or five repetitions.

Researchers in a 1996 study at the Orthopedic and Research Center in Oklahoma City taught these pain-relieving hand and wrist exercises to 81 carpal tunnel syndrome sufferers. They found that just one minute of exercise was enough to reduce the pressure on the victim's median nerve -- and the pain. In some cases, relief lasted several hours.

Step 1: Starting in a typing position, slowly bend your hands back at the wrists with fingers fully extended and hold for 10 seconds. Return to the typing position.

Step 2: Straighten your wrists, stretch your arms and hands forward with fingers fully extended and hold for 10 seconds. Do not cause pain by overstraining your hands and wrists. Return to the typing position.

Step 3: Make a tight fist and hold for 10 seconds. Return to the typing position. Step 4: For the second time, straighten your wrists, stretch your arms and hands forward with fingers fully extended and hold for 10 seconds. Return to the typing position; do four or five repetitions.

This article is courtesy of the Defense Link website.

Lisa E. Stafford in this way tells you about some simple exercises which doesn’t take much of your time and on it they can be done while you are at your work place to get relief from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ( CTS ).