Exercises & stretching for
carpal tunnel syndrome

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Benefits of exercise for carpal tunnel syndrome

Gentle exercises, stretches, and activity changes can help many people with carpal tunnel syndrome feel and function better.¹ They’re not a magic cure, but they can reduce symptoms for some people, especially when combined with a night splint and smarter hand use during the day.¹˒²

These exercises are aimed at mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome and are usually used alongside night splints and activity changes.²˒³ Importantly, if you have constant numbness, obvious thumb weakness or wasting, or very fast-worsening symptoms, you need medical review, and you may need nerve tests and surgical input before relying on exercise alone.¹˒⁴

Safety checks before you start

Talk to a clinician before starting or progressing exercises if your thumb feels noticeably weak, the muscles at the base of the thumb look sunken, you have constant numbness rather than off-and-on tingling, symptoms started suddenly or worsened quickly after a wrist fracture or crush injury, or you have other nerve symptoms (for example, balance problems or symptoms in both hands and feet).¹˒⁴ These can be signs of more severe nerve compression or another condition that needs targeted treatment.¹

Pain and symptom rules

Use these as a guide. Mild, temporary symptoms are usually okay for example a little tingling, pulling, or ache (up to about 3/10) during or just after exercise that settles within an hour or two. If tingling, pain, or numbness jumps up and stays worse into the next day, ease off next time by doing fewer repetitions, using a smaller range, or skipping that exercise. Keep movements smooth and slow, and avoid forcing big stretches, especially if wrist extension (bending back) increases symptoms.¹˒⁵

Effective exercises for carpal tunnel syndrome

Not every exercise is right for every person. If a movement causes sharp pain or new symptoms, stop and consult a medical provider. You don’t need every exercise here.

Standard tendon glide sequence

How does this help? Tendon gliding moves the finger tendons through different positions so they can slide with less “stickiness,” which may reduce stiffness and improve hand comfort over time.⁵˒⁶

How to do it: Rest your forearm on a table or keep your arm by your side with your elbow bent, and turn your palm toward you. Start with a “straight hand” with fingers fully straight. Move into a “hook fist” by bending the middle and end finger joints while keeping the big knuckles straighter. Then make a “full fist” by curling the fingers down. Next, move to a “tabletop” position by bending the big knuckles while straightening the middle and end joints, making your fingers look like an upside-down L. Hold each position for about 3 seconds, then move smoothly to the next.

Thumb opposition glide

How does this help? This helps keep thumb motion available for everyday tasks like grasping, buttoning, and picking up small objects, and it can support comfortable coordination of thumb and fingers.¹

How to do it: Start with your palm up and your fingers relaxed. Touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of each finger on the same hand, moving from index to middle to ring to little finger. If comfortable, you can also try touching the base of each finger. Keep your wrist fairly straight throughout, and pause briefly between contacts so the movement stays gentle and controlled.

Median nerve glide (wrist)

How does this help? Median nerve sliders are used to encourage gentle nerve movement and may help some people feel less “trapped” or irritable symptoms during daily activity.¹˒⁵

How to do it: Sit or stand tall with shoulders relaxed. Bring your affected arm out to the side at about shoulder height, with the elbow straight if comfortable, and turn the palm up. With your fingers straight, slowly bend and straighten the wrist through a small, comfortable range. If your clinician has shown you how, you can add a gentle neck tilt away from the affected side to keep this as a “slider” rather than a strong stretch.

Radial nerve glide

How does this help? Some people have irritation in more than one nerve pathway in the arm, and a gentle radial nerve slider can be a helpful option when symptoms suggest the outer forearm or back of the hand is also sensitive.⁵

How to do it: Sit or stand tall with shoulders relaxed. Move your affected arm out to the side and slightly down, then turn the palm toward the floor and make a gentle fist. Slowly tilt your head to the opposite side and angle your chin slightly down, as if looking toward the floor, then softly move the fist up and down through a small range. Keep this easy and smooth, and avoid pushing into a strong stretch.

Did you know?

Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the most common nerve “pinch” problems in the arm, and many people with mild to moderate symptoms start with simple, conservative steps like night splinting and activity changes before considering anything more invasive.²˒⁷ The goal is often to calm symptoms enough that you can keep using your hand comfortably while the nerve gets a break.¹˒²

When to pause and when to get extra help

Stop the exercise session and seek medical advice if tingling or numbness becomes constant rather than on and off, you develop new weakness with pinching or thumb movements (for example, trouble doing up buttons or opening jars), you notice visible wasting of the thumb muscles, symptoms after wrist trauma are rapidly worsening, or exercises consistently make symptoms significantly worse and they do not settle with modification.¹˒⁴

Clinical insight

Most guidelines emphasize the same big idea: start with the least intensive option that fits your symptoms, and “level up” if you are not improving.¹˒⁷ For many people with mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome, a time-limited trial of conservative care (often including night splinting and physical therapy) is a smart first option. ¹˒²˒⁷

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Footnotes

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Updated Clinical Practice Guideline for the management of carpal tunnel syndrome. 2024.

Karjalainen TV, Lusa V, Page MJ, O’Connor D, Massy-Westropp N, Peters SE. Splinting for carpal tunnel syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023;2:CD010003. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010003.pub2

Brininger TL, Rogers JC, Holm MB, Baker NA, Li Z-M, Goitz RJ. Efficacy of a fabricated customized splint and tendon and nerve gliding exercises for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2007;88(11):1429-1435.

British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH). Best Practice for Management of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. BSSH; updated 2021.https://www.bssh.ac.uk/professionals/guidelines.aspx

Ballestero-Pérez R, Plaza-Manzano G, Urraca-Gesto A, et al. Effectiveness of nerve gliding exercises on carpal tunnel syndrome: a systematic review. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2017;21(4):1004-1011. doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2017.02.004

Huisstede BMA, Hoogvliet P, Franke TPC, Randsdorp MS, Koes BW. Carpal tunnel syndrome. Part I: effectiveness of nonsurgical treatments – a systematic review. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2010;91(7):981–1004.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2010.03.022

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Carpal tunnel syndrome: management. NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries. Updated regularly. https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/carpal-tunnel-syndrome/management/management/