I heard from a fellow magician overseas, that his friend and co-magician whose expertise is on Card Magic was diagnosed of having Carpal Tunnel Syndrome last June. So with my nursing background, I would like to expound and inform my fellow magicians who are reading my blogs.
Magicians are known to have skills in prestidigitation or which is also popularly called sleight of hand. A magician should be dexterous enough to be able to perform effects that are magical together with proper presentation and so on. The amount of effort that the magician does with his hand especially during practices is somewhat unimaginable. Also, magicians are known to put his body to the limit be it through the use of his hand or any part of the body for that matter. Some researches say that professions which use the hand more than usual like Magicians are at risk of having Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), or median neuropathy at the wrist, is a medical condition in which the median nerve is compressed at the wrist, leading to paresthesias, numbness and muscle weakness in the hand. Simply put Carpal tunnel syndrome makes your hand weak, stiff and some cases paralyzed.
How does it happen?
For most patients, the cause of their carpal tunnel syndrome is unknown. Any condition that exerts pressure on the median nerve at the wrist can cause carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, extreme usage of the hand triggers such a medical condition.
Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome initially feel numbness and
tingling of the hand in the distribution of the median nerve (the thumb, index, middle, and part of the fourth fingers). These sensations are often more pronounced at night and can awaken patients from sleep. The reason symptoms are worse at night may be related to the flexed-wrist sleeping position and/or fluid accumulating around the wrist and hand while lying flat. Carpal tunnel syndrome may be a temporary condition that completely resolves or it can persist and progress.
Treatment
There is a surgical treatment if the condition complicates or is aggravated. Safer treatments, are putting a splint on your hand thus immobilizing it and by putting on a cold compress. Also another way is by having Range of Motion Exercises (ROM). These measures, as well as periodic resting and range of motion stretching exercise of the wrists can actually prevent the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome that are caused by repetitive overuse.
For magicians it is highly advisable to exercise or stretch your hand on the opposite position from the way you are usually using it. There should be a stretching or exercise before and after any performance of procedure in order to prevent such thing to happen. Prevention is better than cure. If actors/actresses takes care of their faces because they earn a living from it, as magicians we should also take good care of our hands.
