Sharon Butler was working as a massage therapist and Hellerwork practitioner when she developed carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. Unable to sleep through the night because of the pain and concerned about her livelihood, she built upon her knowledge of connective tissue and developed a series of stretching exercises to gently relieve the tension in her body. After daily stretching in this way, her pain soon subsided. To prove that these exercises weren't just a fluke, Butler intentionally overworked her body to bring back her symptoms. While this may not have been the smartest move, her stretching program again relieved her pain.
The magic behind her powerful exercises is their focus on fascial tissue. Fascia, which is stronger than steel, holds the body together. It wraps around muscle fibers, bones, and tendons. (If you've ever looked at an uncooked piece of chicken and noticed the glistening white layer over the meat, you've seen fascia.) In people who overwork their bodies, the fascia hardens, a natural response to prevent future injury. Unfortunately, this stiffness worsens with repeated insults to the body. Muscles, nerves, and tendons tense up and inflame even more and may even adhere to each other. Metabolic waste products can build up and become trapped instead of being carried away by the lymph system, and even more pressure is placed on the affected body tissues.
Enter Butler's exercises. The book is arranged to let you pick and choose the correct stretches to suit your needs. Too much typing, guitar playing, or gardening? Stiff neck, tingling fingers, sore upper arms, or all three? However you developed your repetitive strain injury and whatever your upper-body symptoms (or if you're smart and you'd like to prevent such problems), there are multiple stretches in Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome to suit your needs. The book is arranged to help users develop a personalized stretching program with more than 40 stretches for the upper body, forearms, wrists, fingers, and thumbs to choose from. Butler thoroughly explains the importance of stretching and the correct (and incorrect) way to do it, and the exercises are lucidly illustrated.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

Replace Conquering with Stretches for...:

In my opinion, stretching and ergonomics are only aspects of conquering repetitive strain injuries and this book title presumes too much in the interest of drawing attention to itself.
4 1/2 months ago I experienced sudden onset bilateral arm pain, primarily in the distal halves of my forearms accompanied by carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms in my hands, with occasional aching pain clear to my plexus on my right arm. My doctors turned out to be fear mongers, so I declined their invasive tests and... more info

Recommend for Massage therapists:

My instructor suggested this book for us training to become a Licensed Massage Therapist so that we wont burn out. Has great stretches and simple. What people dont realize is that its the repetitive motion in the shoulder and upper arm that causes the muscles at the carpals (wrist) to tense up as a reaction to the pain in the upper arm, trigger point therapy is a great way to relieve the strain as well. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

No surgery needed!:

This book will cure your repetetive strain injuries. Butler describes how to stretch properly and what stretches will benefit you most depending on where you have pain or numbness. It is amazing how much better I got, and how quickly! You will need to keep up on your stretches to stay well.

Great book - the stretches work!:

I'd only be repeating the praises others have given this book, but I just want to say I highly recommend this book. The stretches are explained clearly and simply and they do work. I've bought this book for friends and when they follow the exercises, they get relief. Another plus, is doing the stretches FEELS so good and it only takes maybe 15 minutes.

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