...our hands were built for power. Our ancestors gripped,...
“...our hands were built for power. Our ancestors gripped, hauled, climbed, and carved — hands that could crush, carry, and build anything the world demanded. Now our most intense daily grip is holding a coffee cup and tapping a keyboard. When you use a keyboard for an extended period of time it may contribute to Carpal tunnel syndrome. Studies show grip strength is declining across generations. We didn't lose our hands. We just stopped asking anything of them. And that's exactly why they never needed a stress ball — because...”
Summary
Recent research confirms that grip strength has stagnated or declined in younger generations, indicating a generational decrease. However, the cited studies do not establish that prolonged keyboard use causes carpal tunnel syndrome; they only show that CTS reduces grip strength. Therefore, the claim about keyboard use contributing to CTS is not supported by the available evidence.
Sources 59 searched
- Trends in grip strength: Age, period, and cohort effects on grip strength in older adults from Germany, Sweden, and Spain - ScienceDirect
Therefore, while grip strength increased in the oldest old aged 80 years and older, grip strength stagnated or decreased in comparatively younger cohorts, who might thus be at risk to experience more morbidity and disability in the future than ...
- Age-associated decline in grip strength: Population-based analysis of rate and percentage change from ages 6-80: NHANES 2011-2014 - ScienceDirect
By midlife (50s), decline accelerated (−0.30 kg/year in males, −0.24 kg/year in females), reaching −0.41 kg/year (males) and −0.29 kg/year (females) by ages 69-79. For percentage change, males had 78.62% lower grip strength and females ...
- Developmental factors associated with decline in grip strength from midlife to old age: a British birth cohort study | BMJ Open
Objectives To test whether developmental factors are associated with grip strength trajectories between 53 and 69 years, and operate independently or on the same pathway/s as adult factors. Design British birth cohort study. Setting England, Scotland and Wales.
- Developmental factors associated with decline in grip strength from midlife to old age: a British birth cohort study - PubMed
Objectives: To test whether developmental factors are associated with grip strength trajectories between 53 and 69 years, and operate independently or on the same pathway/s as adult factors. Design: British birth cohort study.
- Effect of carpal tunnel syndrome on grip and pinch strength compared with sex- and age-matched normative data - PubMed
Conclusion: Patients with CTS have moderate to large deficits in grip and pinch strength in comparison to normative data.
- Grip strength before and after carpal tunnel decompression
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- Comparison of grip strength measurements for predicting all-cause mortality among adults aged 20+ years from the NHANES 2011–2014 | Scientific Reports
Little is known about the optimal ... age or sex. We used data from the 2011–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 9,583 adults aged ≥ 20 years were included....
- Trends in grip strength: Age, period, and cohort effects on grip strength in older adults from Germany, Sweden, and Spain - PMC
Therefore, while grip strength increased in the oldest old aged 80 years and older, grip strength stagnated or decreased in comparatively younger cohorts, who might thus be at risk to experience more morbidity and disability in the future than previous generations.
- Assessment of grip-motion characteristics in carpal tunnel syndrome patients using a novel finger grip dynamometer system - PMC
Grip strength measurement is widely used in daily medical practice, and it has been reported that the grip strength decreases in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). However, conventional grip dynamometers evaluate only the maximum power of total grip strength and cannot measure the ...
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