But the facts about CTS often differ from the assertions of keyboard manufacturers and unhappy employees. Repetitive stress, physical trauma, certain diseases or specific hereditary conditions can inflame the sheaths that surround wrist tendons. With the swelling of small blood vessels, pressure increases on the nerve and disrupts its function. The result is numbness, pain and a loss of manual dexterity. CTS treatment usually consists of rest, splinting the wrist and anti-inflammatory drugs.
Severe cases require surgery to relieve the pressure.
Activities associated with CTS include continuous keyboarding or typing, cutting meat, and playing a piano or stringed instrument. They may only trigger CTS symptoms. But while the hypothesis that some people have genes or medical conditions which predispose them to CTS merits investigation, factual support for it is both weak and largely inapplicable to managing CTS-related problems. If the hypothesis were correct, it would simply mean that some people are more susceptible to activities that cause CTS than others. The problem of preventing CTS would remain.