RADIATION, REPETITIVE MOTION, & OTHER JOB HAZARDS

Work Related Illness . . . Radition, repetitive motion, and other job hazards. Carpal tunnel syndrome, eye and ear injuries, and dangers from electromagnetic radition are increasing concerns in the workplace. Follow these clues to detection, treatment, and prevention.

Repetitive-use syndrome: Cumulative trauma disorder are common among workers; carpel tunnel syndrome is only one of many. Taking a careful history and ruling out similar conditions are key to diagnosis. Treatment may include workstation improvements, job changes, physical therapy, wrist splints, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and cortcosteroids. Poor posture contributes to pain play terminals. Changing position briefly but frequently may reduce symptoms.

Musculoskeletal disorders have always ranked high among among work-related diseases and injuries, and repetitive-use injuries are taking and increaseingly heavy toll among American workers. In the 1980s, repetitive-truma disorders rose from less than 20% of reported occupational disease to more than 50%. This marked increase is attributed to changes in workplace technology and heightened awareness of these disorders among physicians and patients. Occupational medicine specialists suggest that many jobs require people to assume positions and make movements that place an unnatural strain on the body. In additio, some workers must repeat certain motions for hours on end, hold poorly designed or vibrating power tolls, and expose themselves to extremes of heat and cold.

The common cumulative truma disorder is carpel tunnel syndrome, which is often difficult to diagnose and differentiate from other wrist and forearm problems. Patient often believe that almost any wrist or forearm pain signals this disorder. Quite the contrary, many troublesome complaints are traceable to a board spectrum of occupational or nonoccupational activities - or in some cases to both.

Carpel tunnel syndrome is not a diagnosis but rather a description of median nerve compression in the volar aspect of the wrist that may signs and symptoms. Risk factors include pregnancy, rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions, hypothyroidism, obesity, prior traumatic injury of the wrist, and increased age. More than half of the cases occur in woman.

(Well be continued)

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