[original source: Sept/Oct 95 Yoga Journal]

Yoga at the End of the Tunnel 
by Blake More

Repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome may be helped
by yoga, claims Marian Garfinkel, Ph.D., the co-author of a study looking
at the effectiveness of yoga in treating carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
Twice a week for 10 weeks, Garfinkel, a health educator and certified
Iyengar instructor who has studied personally with B.K.S. Iyengar over
the past 20 years, guided 28 people suffering from CTS in a series of
slow, progressive stretches and postures.  Garfinkel concentrated on
developing shoulder, neck, and upper skeletal flexibility and alignment,
as well as increasing the range of motion of the hands--making sure that
no weight was put on the hands.

Next, she and her partner, Dr. Warren Katz, chairman of the department
of medicine at Presbyterian Medical Center in Philidelphia, compared
the results with a group of 27 other CTS sufferers who wore splints
for two and a half months.  "In the end, people doing the yoga saw
their grip strength improve, their pain lessen, and the swelling and
tenderness in their wrists go down.  The combination of stretching
and lengthening helps to open up the painful tightness in the wrist
canal."

In any event, Garfinkel warns that people shouldn't go to just any
yoga teacher for their carpal tunnel, because some types of yoga
could actually cause further harm.  "I designed the program specifically
for each person in the study.  The yoga teacher, practitioner, or
therapist who is working with carpal tunnel sufferers must know the
patient, because what works for one may not work for the other.
For example, a 60-year-old may have secondary problems that may
make some postures dangerous.  The key is individualizing the
program--get a diagnosis of CTS first, find out the severity, then
proceed slowly, very slowly."

Both she and Dr. Katz believe that yoga not only relieves people
of their symptoms but also gives them increased body awareness.
"One of the reasons it works for carpal tunnel syndrome is that
it puts people in touch with themselves and with how they can
fine tune their instrument.  I think people should know that yoga
is definitely an option to consider before having surgery."