Carpal tunnel syndrome struck fear into countless cubicle-dwellers, who fretted over their keyboards, donned wrist braces and adjusted chairs incessantly to fend off the dreaded condition.

Then, somewhere along the way, the painful syndrome disappeared from center stage, becoming far less prevalent as employers revamped their workplaces to prevent injuries. Or maybe frustrated workers gave up reporting their experiences. Or maybe the illness's pervasiveness was overstated.

It's unclear why carpal tunnel syndrome gets less attention from today's work force, although the condition has always been steeped in controversy, Fort Worth ergonomist Bill Barbre said.

"Carpal tunnel syndrome was supposed to be the asbestos of the '90s," he said. "People were hearing that, potentially, just normal computer work was an insidious health hazard."

The bottom line: The number of carpal tunnel injuries that kept people away from work plunged to 13,010 in 2006, down 66 percent from 1994, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Although some studies have shown that repetitive hand movements do contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome, others have linked the condition to a variety of additional risk factors, such as obesity, high blood pressure, hormonal changes, arthritis, thyroid problems and pregnancy, Barbre said.

The syndrome generally seems to go hand-in-hand with several workplace situations. Often, more injuries are reported when morale is low or when employers boost their workers' awareness about the condition, Barbre said.

"Some of that is, maybe, a hypersensitivity to what may be normal, kind of fatigue-related factors of life," he said.

Full-fledged carpal tunnel syndrome doesn't appear to be any more common in people who work on computers, Barbre said. But that doesn't mean that the condition isn't real and harmful.

Alice Collini, a certified hand therapist at Arlington Memorial Hospital in Arlington, Texas, said carpal tunnel syndrome may be less worrisome for workers today because they're more familiar with the condition and may be better able to catch problems before they become serious.