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Work-related musculoskeletal injuries refer to a host of painful disorders of muscles, tendons, nerves, joints, cartilage and spinal discs.  Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are conditions in which the work atmosphere or performance of work contributes significantly to the condition or an already existing injury is made worse due to work conditions.  Musculoskeletal disorders are coupled with high costs to employers such as absenteeism, loss of productivity and increased health care, disability, and worker’s compensation costs.  Musculoskeletal disorders cases are more severe than the average nonfatal injury or illness.

Work activities which are frequent and repetitive or activities with awkward postures lead to these disorders which may be painful during work and at rest as well.  Almost all work requires the use of the arms and hands, so most of the work-related musculoskeletal injuries affect the hands, wrists, elbows, neck, and shoulders.  However, work using the legs can lead to musculoskeletal injuries of the legs, hips, ankles and feet.  Spine-related backache can also occur due to repetitive activities during work.

Owing to its unique nature, these disorders earned many names such as repetitive motion injuries, repetitive strain injuries, cumulative trauma disorders, occupational cervicobrachial disorders, overuse syndrome, regional musculoskeletal disorders and soft tissue disorders.

Let us have a look at some common work-related musculoskeletal injuries.

Shoulder bursitis:

Normally, shoulder has a wide range of motion, making it the most mobile joint in the body.  But because of this flexibility, it is not very stable and is prone to injuries, especially at workplace.  Shoulder bursitis is a common work-related musculoskeletal injury.  It affects the bursa (lining of the shoulder.  Typical symptoms are shoulder pain, stiffness, problem reaching behind on

upper back.  Possible causes include repeated shoulder movements, especially with twisting.  People who must lift their arms overhead for work are prone to this injury

Rotator cuff tendonitis:

Rotator cuff tendons are in the front of the shoulder.  Symptoms inlcude shoulder pain, stiffness,

problem reaching behind on upper back. Possible causes include repeated shoulder movement especially with twisting, overhead throwing etc.

Carpal tunnel syndrome:

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs on the palm side of the wrist.  It mainly affects median nerve, blood vessels and tendons.  Symptoms include numbness/tingling affecting the thumb, index, middle and half of the ring fingers, especially at night and weak grip.  Repetitive flexion of the wrist leads to this injury.  Operators, fabricators, and laborers; and of course the people who use computers extensively are prone to this injury.

Myofascial pain:

Myofascial pain can be felt in the neck and upper back.  In this condition, pressure on sensitive points in your muscles (trigger points) causes pain in the muscle.  This syndrome typically occurs after a muscle has been contracted repetitively.  This can be caused by repetitive motions used in jobs such as working overhead and keeping arms in extended position.  Symptoms are heavy feeling, aching pain, stiffness in upper back & neck and poor sleep.

Back injury and back pain:

Back symptoms are among the top ten reasons for medical visits. For 5% to 10% of patients, the back pain becomes chronic.  Occupational injury accounted for more than 54% of back injury. People who are prone to back injury are operators, fabricators, and laborers.  Back pain can be brought under control by primary and secondary interventions such as ergonomic workplace design, adjusting work schedules and workloads, programs designed to modify individual factors, such as employee exercise and combinations of these approaches.

Tennis elbow:

As the name indicates, it is derived from the game of tennis where it is one of the most painful injuries among players.  Tennis elbow is also referred to as lateral epicondylitis.  It affects elbow tendon on thumb side or arm.  General symptoms are elbow pain, problem wringing towel and carrying groceries etc.  Repeated twisting arm movements greatly contribute to this injury.

Thumb tendonitis:

It is also called DeQuervain’s tendonitis.  It primarily affects the tendon of the thumb from the nail to the wrist.  Typical symptoms are pain in the thumb, problem with pinching and gripping.  Repetitive manual work that involves pressing and pulling with thumb lead to this type of injury.

Trigger finger:

Trigger fingers or tenosynovitis of fingers primarily affects tendons and synovium (lining of the tendons).  In this type of injury, you can feel fingers lock and release by pushing on them.  Repeated use of hand tool or gripping motions is the root cause of trigger finger.

Wrist/Forearm tendonitis:

Wrist/Forearm tendonitis is a common condition characterized by irritation and inflammation of the tendons around the wrist joint.  Often, wrist tendonitis occurs at points where the tendons cross each other or pass over a bony prominence. Common symptoms are pain, swelling and weak grip.  Repetitive movements of wrist and forearm lead to this injury.

Work-related musculoskeletal injuries should not be seen in the framework of traditional disease.  Certain conditions in the workplace, for instance, the layout of the workstation in a computer-related work, the speed with which the work is performed, especially in conveyer-driver jobs, weight of the object being handled influence work-related musculoskeletal injuries.  In other situations, the psychological factors at work also come into play and may also contribute to work-related musculoskeletal injuries.  In order to address this issue holistically, it is important that both physical and psychological factors are addressed.

For questions related to shoulder injuries, send a message to www.BangaloreShoulderInstitute.com/contact