The Invisible Link Between Carpal Tunnel And Arthritis

Is there a link between Carpal Tunnel and Arthritis?

Can Carpal Tunnel cause Arthritis?  (specifically were' talking osteoartritis not rheumatoid arthritis, which is an auto-immune issue caused by inflammatory agents like gluten)

With Carpal Tunnel and Wrist Tendonitis being such a prevalent issue that involves various pains and symptoms in the wrist area, one can start to wonder if there is any connection to the development, onset, and progression of Arthritis.

The same dynamic that causes Carpal Tunnel Symptoms can cause Arthritis.  So if you figure out why you got CTS, then it's highly likely you'll know what caused  your arthritis (since it's usually the same factors).

Carpal Tunnel And Arthritis
How Does The Carpal Tunnel Dynamic Cause Arthritis?

How does the Carpal Tunnel Dynamic Cause Arthritis? First we must look at the Carpal Tunnel Dynamic.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the end result of an ever increasing Pain Causing Dynamic.

1. We use our hands on a daily basis, and every time we contract a muscle, that muscle retains a tiny bit of that contraction. So we slowly get tighter and tighter. And we stay tighter and tighter, even when we sleep.
2. This has our structures get less and less circulation, less new blood and nutrition in, and less waste product out. This becomes an irritation.
3. Also, our connective tissue starts to slowly shrink wrap, compressing our structures into an increasingly immobile state.
4. Our body compensates as long as it can, but eventually starts to lose the battle, and that’s when we start to feel pain.

Osteoarthritis Symptoms can include carpal tunnel symptoms.  

And the Carpal Tunnel dynamic (which is really the Tendonitis dynamic) can cause osteoarthritis.

Chronic tightness causes all sorts of problems...

Carpal Tunnel And Arthritis
Go Hand In Hand (pun intended)

The factor we need to pay attention to in a context of getting or avoiding Arthritis, is the part of the dynamic where muscles get tight, and stay tight.

When a muscle is tight, the tendons that connect muscle to bone get pulled on. So whatever the tendon connects to gets pulled on.

So if your forearm muscles connect to the forearm, and the hand and fingers. If your forearm muscles are tight, they pull your hand bones into your forearm bones. This compresses your wrist joint(s) and finger joints.

Muscles get tight and stay tight, and in fact that tightness becomes the new 'normal'. So even when you sleeping and theoretically 'relaxing', your wrist and/or your finger joints are getting compressed.

When you are using your hands during the day, every time you move your hands and fingers, those compressed joints then grind on each other.

The tighter your muscles, the more pressure the bones grind on each other with.

Point being, the same factors that cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can also cause arthritis in hands and fingers.

See:  Arthritis In Hands

Carpal Tunnel And Arthritis
How Does Arthritis Start?

Arthritis can set in for a variety of reasons.

One of those reasons is constant irritation of the joint lining.

Idealy joints glide smoothly. To the extent that the bones are compressed, they are grinding instead of gliding. This irritates and eventually causes wear and tear damage to the inside lining of the joint.

And the body kicks in a Process of Inflammation that creates more pain and tightness.

And this process is happening long before you ever feel Arthritis pain, and long before you ever notice any Carpal Tunnel Symptoms.

And, Inflammation Causes Vitamin B6 Deficiency

See:  What Causes Arthritis

Carpal Tunnel And Arthritis
That's Just The Way The Body Works

While there is a lot of complexity to a Carpal Tunnel Dynamic, and to Arthritis, it can also be incredibly simple.

We move our bodies.

We get tight.

Tightness causes problems.

All you have to do is reverse the problematic process and painn dynamic, and then you can move as much as you want without pain.

Having said that, once arthritis sets into the joint, you may or may not be able to heal. But it’s safe to say, if you don’t loosen the muscles and connective tissue and turn off the Inflammation process, it will continue to get worse.

And even if it’s not possible to heal the damage that’s already there (I believe that it is), you can greatly reduce your Arthritis pain and symptoms.

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