If you often feel tingling, pain or numbness in your hands, you may have carpal tunnel syndrome. This is caused by pressure on the median nerve in your wrist.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is extremely uncomfortable and can make any daily basic task painful and difficult.

Carpal tunnel can come from a number of factors from not eating right to repeatedly having strained hand positions.

Although there is no sure fire way to prevent this syndrome, there are a few things you can do to make your chances of getting it a lot smaller.

Here are some lifestyle changes you can do to prevent carpal tunnel:

- Don't smoke

- Eat healthy

- Stay at a healthy weight

- Lower your salt intake

Although all these methods are extremely effective, it is very hard to make an extreme lifestyle change to prevent something like this. Although these changes will impact a lot more than preventing carpal tunnel, if you wanted to make this kind of a change, you wouldn't decide on it now to prevent carpal tunnel.

Luckily, there are changes you can make that won't disrupt your entire life! Every one of these exercises are with your hands so you can do them practically anywhere, anytime.

Here are five exercises you can do to prevent carpal tunnel:

1. Fist

This one is extremely basic but will make a huge difference. First make a fist with your hands, hold it for about 10 seconds, and release it fanning your fingers out and stretching them as far as you can. Repeat this five to 10 times. Again, you can do this anytime, just probably not when you first wake up, because I don't know if you've ever tried to make a fist when you first wake up, but it is near impossible, I swear.

2. Wrist rotation

You can do this exercise both standing or sitting, (actually these are all hand exercises, so you can do them all standing or sitting.) Stretch your arm forward and clench your fist. Then, rotate your wrist clockwise five times, then repeat going counterclockwise. Once done, repeat the same but with the opposite hand.

3. Prayer

This is called the prayer stretch because it looks exactly like praying. Place your hands flat against each other, with your finger facing upwards. Your hands should be placed in front of your chest but still below your chin. Begin lowering your hands towards the bottom of your stomach. Make sure your palms are still touching and your hands are close to your body. Once you feel a mild stretch in your wrists and forearms, hold it for 15 to 30 seconds, then repeat three more times.

4. Backwards desk stretch

You can do this on any flat surface as long as it is lower than your hips. Place your palms on the table with your fingers pointed towards you. Keep your shoulders and back relaxed as much as possible and step back until you feel a stretch in the front of your wrists. Hold this pose for 20 seconds then repeat three times.

5. Wrist extension

Extend one arm directly in font of you and bend your wrist so that your fingers are pointed to the ground. With your opposite hand, gently push your other wrist downward until you feel a stretch in your forearm. Hold for 15 seconds and repeat three times. After three times, switch hands.

Carpal tunnel is extremely uncomfortable and painful. Taking a few minutes everyday or even every week to do these simple, quick exercises can prevent this syndrome from occurring.