Ergonomic Tips (04/04)
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Re-visited
by John R. Chait D.C., drchait@hotmail.com
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is one of the most common and potentially disabling injuries experienced in computer use today. Your knowledge of symptoms, and potential causes can help you circumvent injuries, or assist in the recovery from this and other common Repetitive Strain Injuries.
What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? The median nerve travels from the forearm into your hand through a "tunnel" in your wrist. Wrist bones form the inferior and lateral parts of this tunnel, and a strong band of connective tissue called a ligament covers the superior aspect of the tunnel.
This tunnel also holds nine tendons that join muscles to bones and bend your fingers and thumb. These tendons are covered with a lubricating membrane, which may enlarge and swell under some circumstances. If the swelling is enough it may cause the median nerve to be pressed up against this very strong ligament which may result in symptoms, such as numbness, tingling in your hand, clumsiness or pain described above.
Risk Factors for Computer Users:
- Ignorance of the caution signs or risk factors for damage
- Heavy computer use.
- Lack of frequent or regular breaks.
- Poor Posture.
- Incorrect keyboard or mouse height or positioning.
- Resting your wrist on the work surface, wrist rest or using your mouse.
- Keying or using your mouse with wrist bent upwards, rather than being straight.
- Stretching and twisting to reach keys while your wrists are anchored on a wrist rest or desktop.
- Stretching and twisting while using your mouse with your wrist fixed on a wrist rest or desktop.
What are the Warning Signs?
- The first symptom may be numbness and tingling (pins and needles) of the palm, the thumb, index, middle and half of the ring finger.
- Pain and aching in the same area of the hands may also occur, with some radiation up into the forearm area.
- Awakening with a tingling sensation.
- Hands falling asleep.
- Cold hands.
- Difficulty using hands, such as, holding a cup, turning pages in a book or turning a door knob.
If I have carpal tunnel syndrome, what can I do about it?
Proper diagnosis and management of this condition is essential in order to curtail the disabling symptoms associated with the advancement of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Chiropractors are equipped to deal with this problem and can offer many patients relief of their problem. :
Copyright 2004. This article is from the April 2004 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/The Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. has 1,100+ members and was established in 1982. We are members of the Assoc. of PC User Groups (APCUG), the Florida Assoc. of PC Users Groups, Inc., and we are members of the America Online Ambassador Program.
See http://www.spcug.org for all reviews from the Sarasota PC Monitor, go to the Newsletter Section.