Ten consecutive keyboard operators (six women) with chronic forearm pain exacerbated by keyboard work presenting for rheumatological assessment and 21 (12 women) asymptomatic controls matched for sex and typing speed (30-50 words/min) were recruited from rheumatology outpatient clinics. All the patients had had diffuse forearm pain for at least three months. We excluded patients with Raynaud's syndrome, neurological causes, compartment syndromes, inflammatory conditions, epicondylitis, algodystrophy, trauma, and diabetes mellitus.