What helps carpal tunnel syndrome?

I can't begin to imagine how worried, anxious & may be inadequate I would feel if I had a premature baby.  I would imagine there is a really strong instinct & desire to the hold the baby which is more difficult if it needs to be in an incubator. A recent study has looked at the impact on the mother’s health of massaging premature babies.  Fifty-two mothers with babies born at 30 - 38 weeks were randomly assigned ot an intervention or control group.  Mothers in the experimental group were asked to massage their babies daily alongside standard medical care, while those in the control group only had standard medical care. Mothers in the experimental group were given an information pamphlet, training video and researches conducted a massage training session.  They were then asked to perform a massage on their babies for 15 minutes each day for 5 days. Mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire rating changes in 65 "mood factors" including anxiety, depression and fatigue, on a five-point scale.  Mood scores were consistent across both groups at the beginning of the study but there were significant differences by the end. Mothers who massaged their babies had a better mood than those who didn't.  They also experienced less anxiety, depression & fatigue. Reading this did make me wonder the impact of massaging babies would have on the mood of mums whose babies weren't premature. Reference https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1556370717300937    

These stretches can either be done as a complete series or individually and most of them can be done at your desk.  Some will ease tension in specific parts of the body whilst others are generally relaxing.  Please remember stretching should always be relaxing and never painful! To get maximum benefit from these stretches you should do them daily and hold each stretch for 15 seconds and repeat twice. Head And Neck

• Head rotation - keeping your head level, slowly turn from side to side.
• Slowly drop your head sideways moving your right ear towards your right shoulder and push down with your left shoulder - repeat on other side.
• Stand with your feet shoulder distance apart; look down towards your right foot (hold for 15 seconds),  dropping left shoulder - repeat the exercise looking towards your left foot.
• Drop the lower jaw and open the mouth wide.

• Shrugging shoulders in a circular movement - forwards and then backwards.
• Raise your shoulders high and let them drap heavily; whilst letting breathing out.
• Clasp hands behind your head, with elbows back - push your chin back.  Hold for 15 seconds.  From this position look down and push your elbows together at the front and hold for a further 15 seconds.
• Clasp you hands and push up towards the ceiling, palms up now look down.
• Sit upright in a chair with a firm seat.  Raise your arms as high as possible and remaining seated drop forward letting your head and arms hang heavily towards the floor.

My final tip on reducing anxiety is to try chamomile.  Chamomile is a herb with a long history of use. A cup of chamomile tea is a common home remedy to calm frayed nerves and promote sleep. A 2009 study showed chamomile may also be a powerful ally against generalized anxiety disorder. The study found people who took German chamomile capsules (220 milligrams up to five times daily) had a greater reduction in scores for tests that measure anxiety symptoms than those who were given a placebo. A more recent trail, much longer term trail reported similar results and noted that the treatment was safe with only a few mild side effects. References https://nccih.nih.gov/research/results/spotlight/040310.htm Amsterdam JD, Yimei L, Soeller I, et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of oral Matricaria recutita (chamomile) extract therapy for generalized anxiety disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. 2009 ;29(4):378–382. https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Long-term+chamomile+treatment+for+generalised+anxiety+disorder.-a0503569379