SARASOTA, Fla. -- The bad news is that Bronson Arroyo is dealing with carpal tunnel syndrome in his right wrist. The good news is that no one seems overly worried, and Arroyo has pitched with it for a few years.

"It makes it harder to pitch, but I just have to deal with it," Arroyo said. "It's not that I can't throw, but it's like a sprinter [recovering from] a sprained ankle."

Arroyo first showed symptoms of carpal tunnel back in 2004, when he was with the Red Sox. It popped up in the middle of the season, then it went away. It cropped back up after his Game 3 start in the American League Division Series against the Angels, and it worried him because he wasn't sure what was causing it.

"My fingers were weak, like they were falling asleep," Arroyo said. "Then it went away. After I pitched the ALDS, it came back. I worried about throwing against the Yankees. I only threw a couple more times out of the 'pen. We went on to win, and in the offseason, it didn't bother me."

The issue didn't recur the following couple of years, but it came back for much of the 2008 season. It died down in the offseason, but it reared its ugly head about three weeks ago this spring.

Clearly, it's not crippling. Arroyo didn't miss a start in 2008, and he said he doesn't plan to miss any outings this season because of it. He hit 200 innings for the fourth straight season last year and won 15 games, though his ERA did climb to 4.77. His last couple of outings this spring have been less than perfect, leading some to express concern. But it sounds like the Reds have it under control.

"They gave me stuff to try and knock it out," said Arroyo, who is taking an anti-inflammatory drug to try to control the problem. "We have to find a way to calm it down and keep it calmed down."

However it feels on any particular day, it's not keeping the right-hander from getting his regular work in.

"He's felling a lot better," manager Dusty Baker said. "They gave him some medication, and he's going to throw a [bullpen session Wednesday]. He's had to deal with this the last couple of years, I think. If it was going to come up, I'd rather it come up when it did when we have time to take care of it. The medical staff is on top of it."

The first thought for most is that the condition has been exacerbated from one of Arroyo's favorite off-the-field activities: his music. But he's been sure to let everyone know that isn't the case.

"Everybody thinks it's from him playing the guitar too much," Baker said. "He assured us he hadn't been. It's something he's going to have to deal with, and we have to find a way to solve it."

One possible solution would be surgery. That's not something that's going to take place now, but in terms of finding a permanent solution, it's something Arroyo has mentioned in the past.

"I vaguely hinted at that," Arroyo said. "[The procedure] is not a big deal, but some people come up with numb fingers after the surgery."

That's something neither he nor the Reds want to play with, especially with the season right around the corner. Instead, he'll see how the medication that's been prescribed works and go from there.

"When it's like that, I can't put power on the ball the way you want to, but it's not something anyone would notice," said Arroyo, who is slated to start the Reds' third game of the regular season. "We'll get it out of there by April 9 somehow."