Hi:

Have had CTS for several years. Do not want surgery. It gets really bad sometimes. Pain and tingling all the time. Cannot sleep.

With the onset of winter and living on a farm, my hands become very dry and cracked. Really painful and slow healing. I address this by coating my hands with "Bag Balm" at night then pulling on a pair of cheap brown fabric gloves to cotian the balm while it soaks in.

Several days ago when my hands were really hurting from CTS, I put on my wrist braces over the Bag-Balm/Gloves combo. My hands have not been better in years. Almost no tingling nor pain, driving (steering wheel grip) or pounding a keyboard. Sleep has returned.

Please give this a shot. I am hoping the Bag-Balm/Glove/Wrist Brace combo is the hot ticket here and not something else.

Thanks.

Best regards

Munith, MI

Well, I suppose I could give this a try tonight....just borrow the Bag Balm from the farm cupboard....I already use a splint. I am scheduled for extended carpal tunnel release this coming Monday morning. :wave:

Well, I suppose I could give this a try tonight....just borrow the Bag Balm from the farm cupboard....I already use a splint. I am scheduled for extended carpal tunnel release this coming Monday morning. :wave:
And the results were????? I am getting much better each day. Slight tingle when I take off splints in the moring but after that, nada.

And old farmer told me several years ago that he took care of his with WD-40. He sprayed it on his writs every morning then rubbed it in. I laughed but perhaps there was some truth to it!!!!

I bought bag balm just for this reason, and missed the part about wearing gloves. I had hubby rub the bag balm the first night on my wrist and hand, then put on my splint. It seemed to work the first night but not the second. After reading this again tonight I will try it with the GLOVES and SPLINT and let you know if it works. Thanks for the suggestion, as I don't want surgery.

Ok, I'm a city girl. What's bag balm and where do i get it?

It is used on cow udders to massage and help relieve congestion and/or chapped udder and teats. I have used it on my goats if they have chapped udders and teats. It also helps in would healing. Sometimes known as udder balm too.

You can get it in dairy section of a farm and home store.....
Or
I just saw some at my grocery store yesterday in the lotion section. The brand I saw comes in a square green can. Price on it there was $4.97.

You can also find it at quilt shops. It usually comes in a very small green square can. I think quilters use it on sore fingers.Price I have seen is about 2.95-3.95. But you probably would only have enough to treat wrist 2 times with that small amount.
I suppose you might find it at drug stores...I never looked for it there, because it is much cheaper at farm store.

I know this will be a pain, but wear the splints while you sleep. You'd be surprised how much your hands move in awkward positions overnight. I had to have the surgery. I got to the point when I said, that's it no more, I have to have it done. Good for you that you've been able to miss having the surgery. A day might come when you can't put it off any longer. I would hold my arm straight up and after about 3 seconds, pain would shoot all through my arm and I couldn't take it. I would drop at least one item per day and I couldn't pull coins out of my change purse. Don't let it get that bad, if you suspect your symptoms no longer get better with your bag balm & splints, don't hesitate, get it done. Surgery was a piece of cake because I was asleep. It's the following 2-3 weeks in a bandage that you have to deal with and some physical therapy that can be done at home.

Do you think this would work on a hand, arm, and elbow that have Cubital and Carpal tunnel as a result of a car accident? It is the scars and the building scar tissue that is causing my grief.

Brown, it's worth a try, but if your problems are with internal scars, and if they are pushing on the nerve, then all the creams and lotions in the world won't help.

At this point I'll try anything. The doctor's and therapists are saying that within the next 6 months I will lose the use of my hand because of this scar tissue that just keeps growing. For the past month they have been injecting the hand, arm, and elbow with Cortisone to try and reduce the swelling, etc. But it is not working.