Are You at Risk from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Risk Factors: Gender and Occupation

The two factors that will determine whether or not you are likely to have carpal tunnel syndrome are gender and occupation.

The first risk factor, gender, is more favorably disposed towards men than women. Studies show that women are much more likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome than men are. While the connection between gender and the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome has been established, it is unclear why women suffer three times as much from the condition than men do. It has been speculated that the fact that women's carpal tunnels are smaller may play a significant role. After all, a smaller carpal tunnel can be justly expected to lead to more compression on the median nerve, which then leads to the symptoms of the syndrome.

The second risk factor, occupation, seems to affect those in a particular type of work: assembly. In an assembly line, workers are expected to only deal with one portion of the entire manufacturing process. They are cogs in the machine. They usually do only one simple task, which they perform the whole day, day after day. Sometimes they may do the same task for years; sometimes even their entire lifetimes. The repetitive strain which this type of work places on their hands, compounded over a significant period of time, is likely to result in carpal tunnel syndrome.

Recent studies have given credence to the fact that the assembly-type work produces the highest number of carpal tunnel syndrome victims. While the popular wisdom is that heavy computer use leads to carpal tunnel, it has been shown that computer usage of up to seven hours a day does not significantly affect carpal tunnel syndrome incidence. Thus, carpal tunnel is more a function of assembly-type work than it is of computer use.

Other Risk Factors

While gender and occupation are the two main factors that affect carpal tunnel syndrome incidence, a person's medical profile may also play a role. It has been shown that people with metabolic disorders (such as diabetes) have nerves that are much more susceptible to compression.