I thought I should post this, as it is a somewhat encouraging story.

I am 19 and was recently on the recieving end of the very early stages of CTS. I spend a great deal of time on the computer, so this was not exactly shocking to me. When I first felt it, it was kind of a wake-up call. I spent $12 on an ergonomic (split) keyboard and bought a wrist brace (from wal-mart). I only bought one, because only one wrist was really bothering me.

The ergonomic keyboard took some getting used to, but I found that after I had used it for a few hours, I got very used to it. In fact, I even gained 5 words/minute over my previous typing speed. In addition, the wrist brace on my left wrist helped to create a new typing habit where I kept my wrists very straight. Amazingly, only having one wrist forced straight made me keep my other wrist straight as well. In addition I had a magnetic wristband lying around, and I took that wristband and put it on whichever wrist was bothering me at the time. By simply taking these precautions, I have reversed the condition entirely.

I realize this will not work for those in advanced stages, but if you can catch it early, you can fix it w/o surgery.

JM