Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!fluke!kurt
From: kurt@tc.fluke.COM (Kurt Guntheroth)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Avoiding Wrist Damage when Typing
Message-ID: <12051@fluke.COM>
Date: 30 Oct 89 16:59:27 GMT
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I'm not a doctor, but my wife and some others I know have had this problem.

It's called Karpal Tunnel Syndrome.  The Karpal Tunnel is a ring of muscle
in your wrist.  It encircles the blood supply and nerves leading to three
of four fingers (and thumb?  I forget).  When stressed or damaged, it has a
tendency to swell inward, which reduces the blood flow to your fingers and
may pinch the nerves too.  The symptoms of real Karpal Tunnel syndrome are
chronic, moderately severe pain, weakness in the affected fingers, and cold
hands.  A surgical treatment is to cut the karpal tunnel, loosening it and
restoring blood flow (at the cost of weakening the wrist?).  The medical
treatment is use of aspirin, ibupropen or other anti-inflammatory drugs, hot
pads, wax baths, ultrasound, (and other PT things) and ceasing the activity
that caused the problem.  It often goes away in a couple of months if you
stop re-injuring it.