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What
are the Warning Signs of Upper-Extremity CTD's?
- Tightness,
discomfort, stiffness or pain in the hands and forearms.
- Tingling,
coldness or numbness in the hands, or whitening of
the fingertips.
- Loss
of strength in the hands.
- Pain,
aching, swelling, and diminished coordination of injured
areas.
- A
clumsy feeling in your hands
- Pain
going up into your elbow wrist, elbow or shoulder.
- Pain
is worse at night.
To Avoid CTD's:
- Keep the forearm wrist and hand in a neutral(in-line)
position. Be careful of pinching and gripping actions.
- Take frequent breaks
while performing rapid and repetitive or physically
stressful tasks.
- Try modifying the task
to decrease the repetition rate. Repetitive tasks with
cycle times of less than 30 seconds are more stressful.
- Invest in good work chairs that match
worktable height. Chair should support back. Feet should
be flat on floor or on a solid footrest.
- Stretching exercises
with FLEXTEND® are very good. Stretching improves
blood circulation, lengthens the short, tight overused
flexor muscles of the fingers wrist and elbow and
lubricates the flexor tendons which helps decrease
friction within the carpal tunnel when performing
finger/wrist flexion or gripping motions.
- Strengthening exercises
with FLEXTEND®
are equally important, if not MORE IMPORTANT! Strengthen
the weak under developed extensor muscles in order to
maintain proper muscle length/strength balance in the
hand/forearm. Strengthening exercises for the extensor
muscles should be performed immediately after stretching
the finger, wrist and elbow flexors in order to sustain
their proper length, create equal tension/pull between
the flexor and extensor muscles and reduce the cycle
of muscle spasm, tightness, pain and fatigue resulting
from excess compression of the anterior hand/forearm
by the flexor muscles.
-
It
is best to correct poor work habits before manifesting
symptoms.
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