HazMat Smart Strip (Box of 1000 test strips)
The baseball card-sized Smart Strip can detect chlorine, pH, fluoride, nerve agents, oxidizers, arsenic, sulfides and cyanide in liquid or aerosol form at minute levels.
Q. What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
A. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), the most common of the Repetitive Motion Trauma Illnesses, is known medically as a nerve entrapment disorder. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics it is the number one cause of occupational cumulative trauma injury in the United States. The carpal tunnel, located in the wrist, is a narrow space surrounded by an unyielding structure of bone and ligament. Strung through this small passageway are nine flexor tendons and the median nerve, sometimes called "the eye of the hand", which is responsible for sensation in the hand and fingers (see diagram). The syndrome begins when the space inside the tunnel diminishes or when the contents of the tunnel enlarge. Occupationally-induced CTS is a disorder that occurs when the tendons and/or their protective coverings become inflamed and swollen due to excessive movement. This enlargement causes the tendons to compress and ultimately damage the median nerve which results in impaired sensation and motor function of the hand and fingers.
CTS is the fastest growing occupational injury in the country today, afflicting 200,000 people each year. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) predicts that, unless something is done to prevent the problem, a full 50% of the nation's work force may suffer from motion injuries such as CTS by the year 2000. NIOSH estimates that an average case of CTS costs up to $40,000 in direct medical costs.
Q. How is Occupational Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Caused?
A. Many of today's occupations have developed to the point where job specialization requires the same hand motions be repeated endlessly throughout the workday. Dentists cashiers, clerks, assembly line workers, secretaries computer operators, meat processors,, musicians, and scores of others spend hours each day overusing the same muscles and tendons as if they were indestructible. A sixty words-per-minute typist depresses the keys 18,000 times in one hour. Each and every press of the finger requires about eight ounces of pressure effort. In just one day those fingers have pressed the equivalent of 54,000 pounds. That's twenty-seven tons pushed by the fingers' muscles and tendons! This strain of repeated movement and pressure overworks muscles in the hands, fingers, and arms and causes the nine tendons in the narrow carpal tunnel to become irritated, inflamed, and swollen.
CTS is a nerve damage problem that occurs when the nerve becomes entrapped. However, as it pertains to repetitive activities there are other initial developments occurring in the hand, wrist, and arm that lead up to the end effect of nerve degeneration.
The general order of these developments is as follows:
The forearm contains muscles and tendons that can be separated into two basic groups: the flexors and the extensors. Flexor muscles and tendons are used during the gripping action or "closing" of the hand and fingers. Extensor muscles and tendons permit the hand and fingers to "open" or extend. In normal daily activities one needs to grab, hold, or handle items that require different levels of flexor muscle effort. However, regardless of how much strength is required to hold on to an item it still requires only the most minimal of effort to let it go. When one gets involved in an activity that requires an unusual amount of flexor involvement, such as typing or other occupational activities typically associated with CTS, the flexor muscles become overdeveloped relative to the extensor muscles. The abnormal over/under development of the flexors and extensors that occurs with overuse sets up a condition of increased pressure externally upon the bones and ligament of the carpal tunnel which in turn causes increased pressures inside the tunnel.
As the flexor muscles are exercised from the repetitive activity they respond by becoming larger and stronger. The tendons that connect these muscles to bone are also being subjected to overuse. The result is that they rub against each other. The consequence of this rubbing is inflammation of the tendons and/or their protective synovial sheathes. The swollen flexor tendons inside the tunnel have nowhere to expand except into each other and the adjacent median nerve. The final result of this swelling is additional pressure in the tunnel and, of course, on the median nerve itself.
Nerves are actually hardier structures than they have been given credit for. Nerves in the human body do have some ability to stretch as well as to recover from damage. Full regeneration of a damaged nerve typically takes from twelve to eighteen months. The nerve cannot heal, however, if the blood supply is kept from reaching the damaged tissue because of too much external pressure overcoming the normal pressure of the blood's circulation system.
The body's chief healing substance is blood, which carries oxygen and nutrients to the afflicted area and carries away waste products. These waste products are highly irritating chemicals that, when not flushed away by blood, contribute to inflammation. A normally functioning blood circulation system is critical to the healthy operation of the nervous system. The body's nerve complex uses up a full 20% of the oxygen available from the blood supply even though it consists of only 2% of the body's entire mass. Circulation to the farthest reaches of the blood's "plumbing" system of veins, arterioles, and capillaries requires that blood pressure be high enough, relative to external pressures on the blood-carrying structures. This is accomplished by the body's various components having pressure gradients that all have higher or lower pressure levels relative to one another.
If artificial or abnormal pressures exist that interfere with normal pressure gradients then blood cannot reach certain tissues, such as the nerve fibers. As pressure increases in the tunnel due to tight muscles and inflamed tendons the blood-carrying structures collapse, leading to hypoxia, edema, and fibrosis of the nerve. The end result is a nerve that does not receive nutrition, so it will not properly conduct synaptic impulses and cannot heal. This is the condition that causes the symptoms of CTS, such as pain, burning, tingling, numbness, and loss of strength and motor function.
"My numbness is totally gone after three weeks of using CARPAL CARE. I'm very happy and excited about it! It's so easy to use. As far as I 'm concerned, the results are incredible. I'm telling everyone about it!" -Peggy R., age 30, Legal Secretary
Q. How does the CARPAL CARE Prehabilitative Exercise Program work?
A. CTS, when caused by repetitive or sustained activities, acute wrist angles, vibration, temperature extremes, or localized contact stresses, can be prevented. Additionally, when symptoms have already manifested themselves they can be alleviated in most cases. When used regularly as directed, CARPAL CARE lengthens the overdeveloped and foreshortened muscle groups (the flexors) that have lost their original range of mobility due to the repetitive motions required by the job. At the same time, it strengthens and conditions the weaker opposing muscle groups (the extensors) in the hands and forearms that have been left in a relative state of underdevelopment. By creating stabilized, balanced musculotendinous structures in the arm and hand, you can greatly reduce or eliminate the abnormal pressures in the carpal tunnel and on the median nerve, allowing the body's natural healing processes to function.
The CARPAL CARE Exercises are specifically designed to strengthen all of the extensor muscles and tendons in the forearm. Each of the three exercises isolates these muscles in a different way, effecting a total involvement of the extensors. The strengthening effect of the exercises on the extensor muscles, when combined with the lengthening effects of the CARPAL CARE Stretch on the flexor muscles and tendons, allows the easing of external pressures on the carpal tunnel. This allows for a restoration of normal pressure gradients inside the tunnel, thus allowing normal blood and axonal transport to be regained. The strengthened extensors also prevent the flexors from overpowering them in such a way as to create an abnormal flexion posture of the wrist, which also increases pressures on the flexor tendons and the median nerve.
Testing has shown that the CARPAL CARE Program's stretches and exercises will alleviate or greatly reduce the symptoms of pain, numbness, loss of strength, etc. in most anyone who already has occupationally-induced CTS. People who already have even moderate-to-severe CTS symptoms have used CARPAL CARE with very successful results. Many reported that all of their symptoms had been totally eliminated in as little as three weeks. This unique program with the adjustable resistance exercise band has been proven to be equally effective for the post-operative therapy of CTS patients. Those who have used the program for post-operative therapy report being able to return to work with full levels of strength and mobility in about half the time normally associated with ligamental-release surgery. It is very important that your doctor authorize this or any other exercise program for post-operative use.
The key to the CARPAL CARE Program is its ability to reduce abnormal pressures, both internally and externally, on the carpal tunnel. The program itself does not heal the damaged and abraded tissues. It does allow the body to heal itself, as it was designed to, by removing the impediment of the artificially created abnormal pressure gradients between the various anatomical structures inside the tunnel, thus allowing normal vascularity. In most cases, people who have already exhibited CTS symptoms will notice a change in their condition in less than two weeks. Within thirty to ninety days, depending on how well the individual's body responds to exercise in general, the symptoms will either be in total remission or will have been reduced to a great enough degree to allow the person to go about their daily activities in a normal fashion.
Although there are other conditions, such as arthritis or obesity, that can cause the development of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, the CARPAL CARE Program is designed for Occupational CTS that is caused by the unavoidable repetitive motions required by the worker's job.
"This product is fantastic! I've spent hours in therapy aft $50 per hour and never got these results! I give CARPAL CARE an A+! I used to have to wear braces all day and night. Now I don't need them at all. It's working great! I'm recommending the program to my friends at work." Terry A., age 29, Customer Service Representative
Q. How can I tell if I already have CTS?
A. Your doctor can give you a number of tests to determine if you already have CTS. You can try two of them yourself.
1. Phalen Wrist Flexor Test
Bend your wrists down as much as possible without forcing them, by pressing the backs of your hands together. I you feel numbness and tingling after 60 seconds you may have CTS. (This test brings on symptoms in a high percentage of people who have CTS and in about 20 percent of people who do not have it.)
2. Median Nerve Percussion Test
Tap your fingers along the inside of the opposite wrist. If you feel a "pins and needles" sensation you may have CTS. (This test brings on symptoms in almost half of the people who have CTS and in about 6 percent of people who do not have it.)
If you suspect that you already have CTS, it is best to see your healthcare professional for a clinical diagnosis. If not treated, CTS can be permanently debilitating. Before the introduction of CARPAL CARE, treatment usually consisted of wrist splints, anti-inflammatory drugs, cessation of work and, if necessary, surgery.
The CARPAL CARE PREHABILITATIVE EXERCISE PROGRAM is designed to help prevent or alleviate existing symptoms of occupationally-induced CTS. BioSafe assumes no liability in the use of this program or the exercise band and makes no claims, explicit or implied, that using the CARPAL CARE Program will prevent the user from ever developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Since these exercises are designed to strengthen the muscles of the hand, if you have had carpal tunnel surgery your doctor may recommend using CARPAL CARE as a part of your post-surgery rehabilitation. It is very important that your doctor authorize this or any other exercise program for post-operative use.
"Many of the patient problems I see as an Exercise Physiologist, including occupationally-induced Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, are the result of muscular imbalances caused by overusing certain muscle groups. The CARPAL CARE Program strengthens the relatively weak extensor muscles and thus addresses this problem at its source. I have found this to be the best readily available exercise program for the prevention or rehabilitation of CTS." Greg Niederlander, M.S. Fitness Formula, LTD., Deerfield, IL
Q. How can I avoid getting CTS?
A. You can help prevent CTS by
taking frequent rest breaks,
working in an ergonomically sound environment, and
doing specific exercises to strengthen opposing muscles and to prevent fatigue in the wrists, hands, and fingers.
CARPAL CARE, when used regularly according to directions, helps you to strengthen, stretch, and condition the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your hands, wrists, and fingers. Minor aches and pains soon disappear allowing you to perform the task at hand with more comfort and less stress. Whether at home or on the job, because the CARPAL CARE Program is so simple and easy to use, you can do the brief sets of exercises several times each day. A few minutes while watching television or while you are on a coffee break is all it takes. The adjustable resistance exercise apparatus is compact and portable so it is always with you wherever you go. It is important to remember that, as with any exercise program, you use the CARPAL CARE Prehabilitative Exercise Program on a consistent and regular basis. It is best to develop a routine or set time of day when you do your exercises. Since you should perform them up to three times per day, four to six days per week, choose times that will be convenient for you. For example, you might exercise after breakfast, during your work break, after lunch, and while watching the evening news on TV. Developing a routine requires a little discipline, but the results are worth it.
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