Dr. Steve Jones practices in San Diego, California. This article will relate his struggles to find appropriate and effective treatment for repetitive stress injuries (such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, and symptoms including hand pain, wrist pain, neck pain, shoulder pain and elbow pain that were not extensive enough to warrant a specific diagnosis) and why his efforts eventually led prevention vs. treatment.
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Back in the middle part of the 1990’s, his practice started undergoing an unexpected transformation. He started seeing a tremendous number of people complaining of upper extremity pain that was obviously related to long hours of computer work.
While he had studied carpal tunnel syndrome in school and had seen these patients in the past, the overwhelming numbers of these patients that were presenting to his office inspired a desire to learn more about these injuries.
Standard conservative treatment for most types of repetitive stress injuries of the upper extremity involved some combination of wrist splints, elbow straps, massage, joint manipulations, ultrasound therapy, electrical muscle stimulation, trigger point therapy and icing. Treatment for more advanced or debilitating cases could include cortisone injections and various types of nerve decompression surgeries.
These treatments worked some of the time. Most of the time treatment would provide temporary relief for short periods. Many of those who would obtain relief from treatment would have periods of relief that would be punctuated by seemingly unprovoked exacerbations that would cause anger, frustration and depression in both the patient and Dr. Jones (I am sure that he was not the only doctor who was frustrated by treating these conditions).
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For many of those patients who suffered with repetitive stress injuries, the end result of treatment was some level of disability followed by the loss of their employment.
Carpal tunnel surgery is questionable, statistics that show that approximately 95% of all carpal tunnel surgeries are reauthorized one year after the initial surgery date. How hopeless does that sound?
Dr. Jones had always been a compassionate, attentive doctor who listened to his patients. He would pay careful attention to their complaints and as a result he started to notice certain common threads that linked his repetitive stress patients.
Most of these complaints involved ergonomic issues that were easily fixed. Some of these things included: having the computer monitor off to one side instead of placed in front of the patient, using the key board at the wrong height, and having a chair without armrests or postural correct supports. Most of these issues were easy enough to fix. The most common source of irritation that he was told of, however, was the neck, shoulder, elbow and wrist pain associated with mousing.
Continued......
Repetitive Stress, Treatment and One Specific Ergonomic Improvement 2
Call Steve Jones at his San Diego Chiropractic Clinic
(619) 280 0554
http://jonespainrelief.comVisit our Ergonomical Device Website to learn more or Buy Ergo Nav
Visit my San Diego Chiropractic Website to make an appointment
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