Dr. Mark Albers of the Wichita Pain Center provides treatment for sufferers of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS, or occupational neuritis) and other conditions that are the result of repetitive tasks many people perform at work or throughout their daily lives. Activities that strain the muscles and nerves such as typing, sewing or using certain kinds of machinery commonly result in inflammation and pain after months or years of constant repetition. In the case of CTS, the pain is a result of stress and inflammation in the carpal tunnel, a tube-like structure formed by the carpal (wrist) bones. Through this channel travel nine tendons and one nerve, called the median nerve. CTS symptoms arise when the median nerve is irritated by the constant friction and strain on the tendons that accompany it through the carpal tunnel. CTS has been so frequently diagnosed that it’s referred to as “the occupational disease of the 1990s.”