(HealthDayNews) -- An old joke: "Hey, Doc, when I bend my wrist like this, it hurts." Doc: "Well, don't bend it like that!"
That's a simplistic -- but realistic -- answer to the question "How do I prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?"
CTS, a painful, sometimes crippling result of too much repetitive stretching of tendons and ligaments in your wrist, has spurred an enormous amount of research over the past 25 years.
Government statistics show that complaints of CTS have increased rapidly since the 1980s.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "disorders associated with repeated trauma" account for about 60 percent of all occupational illnesses. Of these disorders, carpal tunnel syndrome is the condition most often reported.
Computer typists are probably most often associated with CTS. But butchers, dental hygienists, electronic assembly workers and cooks also are frequently treated for symptoms.
Since CTS is caused by repetitively making the same motions of the wrist, avoiding precisely the same motions time after time can help to ward off the problem.
Once it's been diagnosed, a broad assortment of treatments are available, ranging from medications to surgery.
