89 years old with carpal tunnel

by Jeanie S.
(North Carolina)

My 89 year old husband suffers greatly from carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands/arms.

The pain, numbness, and tingling are nearly decapacitating and he can barely use his hands for normal everyday functioning.

Surgery is not an option at his age, and the braces/splints don't seem to help (he hates wearing them, says they hurt worse).

He has other illnesses that he is dealing with (he is under Hospice care in our home), and the Hospice nurse prescribed .25 cc of liquid morphine to help relieve the pain just in his hands.

It helps for a while, but is certainly not a cure.

Your DVD interests me, but I have to wonder if it is something that a frail 89 year old would be able to handle? I am desperately seeking some way to ease his pain and help him regain some use of his hands.

He hates not being able to do things for himself (he tries, but often needs help with simple things like opening a package of crackers or putting in his hearing aids).

Hopefully you will be open and honest in your reply. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,
Jeanie S.

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Joshua Answers:

Hello Jeanie.

So, your husband is 89, frail, and suffering from a variety of issues.

I have worked on 90 year olds and with 30 minutes a week for 6-8 weeks took them from fragile and in pain to upright, in much less pain, and increasingly agile.

Up until the very end, it's never to late to help make the body more healthy and able.

I need more information, so I have some questions below, but here's my first thoughts.

A. Vitamin D. I bet your husband hasn't had sunshine on his skin for a very long time.

Ask your hospice nurse about a 600,000 i.u. injection of Vitamin D3. It's a common annual dose given to 'the elderly'. (sounds like a lot, but it's not. An hour in the sun is something like 200,000 i.u.'s.


B. Bone Broth. This is dense nutrition, and your husband can only benefit from the nutrition.

Decreased calorie intake is part of the default aging process. Thus less nutrient intake. Thus the machine slowly works less and less well.


C. Specifically for the Carpal Tunnel Symptoms....

I'm assuming that your husband spends a lot of time propped up in bed, or in a similar position in a recliner or some such.

The common human postural condition is to slowly over time roll our shoulders forward, rotate our arms inward, and the neck and head come forward.

Then connective tissue shrink wraps and we get stuck there.

This position cuts off nerve and blood flow to the arms, and can equal just the symptoms that you describe your husband having.

This can absolutely be reversed. It will take some time and some effort, but not a huge amount.

He is definitely too frail for Carpal Tunnel surgery, especially when it is very unlikely that the wrists are the actual source of the problem.

As far as the Tendonitis Treatment That Works DVDs, I don't know that that would be his best option.

There is a lot of great and valuable information on there, but it does sound like he's not up for being able to do his own self care activities.

That's all right. I can talk you through what I'll suggest that you do for him.



I'll talk more about reversal after you answer these questions


1. What other illness is he suffering from?

2. How long has he been having these Carpal Tunnel Symptoms?

3. Is your husband elderly and frail, or is he actively 'in decline'?

4. How much time does your husband spend in bed/in a recliner?

5. Does he have the cliche hunched over, 'little old guy taking 5 inch steps down the street' posture and movement patterns?




Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com