"Tom Gardner" writes:

Does anybody have any experience with carpal tunnel syndrome?

You've got a bunch of responses already, but I thought I'd just point
out, mostly for the benefit of those who might be in the danger zone,
what CTS is, and how you get it.

When you curl your fingers to make a fist, you're using muscles in the
hand to do so. When you straighten them, however, you're using
muscles in the arm, between the elbow and the wrist. Tendons run from
these muscles down to your fingers, to pull them straight. These
tendons run through a narrow passage inside the wrist, and all the
nerves carrying signals to and from the hand run through the same
passage. This passage is the carpal tunnel.

Repetitive motion will pull those tendons back and forth, back and
forth through the tunnel, and if you're unlucky, this will cause them
to become inflamed and swollen. They then squeeze the nerves in the
tunnel with them, and you've got pain and numbness -- CTS.

When you have to do repetitive flexing of the fingers, as in typing,
piano playing, or, in fact, various types of mechanical work, the key
is to keep your wrist straight. This lets the tendons run as smoothly
as possible through the carpal tunnel. If you've got your wrist bent
at an angle, the tendons will be sliding around that bend, and will
rub all the harder on the inside wall of the tunnel.

CTS surgery involves opening up the carpal tunnel to make more room
for movement through it.

-tih
--
Don't ascribe to stupidity what can be adequately explained by ignorance.