Consider: The lifetime cost of carpal tunnel syndrome is about $30,000 per person, the National Institutes of Health reports.

Research also shows that people with bad backs rack up 60% more in medical bills than their healthier colleagues and that the average worker experiencing muscle, tendon, ligament, or bone pain (not including backaches) loses 5½ hours a week in productivity. Says Brad Hutchins, an ergonomist in Thousand Oaks, Calif.:                                                                                                     “That can be just as costly as missing days in the office.”