Do Computers Cause Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Of course it does. I’m sure it depends on a number of factors including: weight of arms, posture, wrist rest used or unused, amount of typing, how long one leaves the wrist sitting on the mouse when not mousing, etc. When I stopped using a wrist rest, my wrists grew bumps to protect my carpel tunnel from being squished against my desk. They were painful and they went away after I avoided the computer altogether for over a week, and since then I’ve always used a wrist pad. Any orthopedic surgeon–or general physician even–would advise the same thing. Plus it’s kinda just common sense.
Its conventional wisdom that excessive typing on computer keyboards is a major contributor to carpal tunnel syndrome, but a new study suggests the conventional wisdom may be wrong. Neurologist J. Clarke Stevens recently conducted a study of 257 workers, divided into people who used computers at work and those who didn’t. Stevens found that the people who worked with computers as part of their jobs had rates of carpal syndrome similar to the general population. In other words, typing away at their computer keyboards did not increase the risk of contracting carpal tunnel syndrome. In addition, Stevens study found that there weren’t any significant differences between computers users who developed carpal tunnel syndrome and those who didn’t. In a press release describing the study, Stevens said, They [computer users] had similar occupations, number of years using the computer and number of hours using the computer during the day. So there were no differences that might point to computer u
