Can a mouse in my hand cause wrist and neck pain?
In the era of the Information Age, almost 80% of workers are glued to their computers. Doctors, Lawyers, Secretaries, Customer Service, and even Mechanics may spend considerable time at the computer
Many studies report about the connection between musculoskeletalpain, especially in the neck and wristand this increased use of computers.
Tension neck syndrome, is a condition involving symptoms of pain and tenderness in the neck muscle. It has been found as the most common diagnosis in the area of the neck connected to computer work. For example the NUDATA-study (acronym for Neck and Upperextremity Disorders among Technical Assistants) was a large study with almost7000 workers. This study found working with a computer mouse for more than 15-20 hours a week, increased the risk for tension neck syndrome. While new neck pains were often caused by using the mouse for over 30 hours a week or using the keyboard over 15 hours a week. In addition they found using the mouse for over 5 hours a week increased the risk for severe wrist and hand pain (wrist tendonitis). Many other studies found repetitive work causes upper limbmusculoskeletal disorders as tendinitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition of entrapment of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel involving symptoms of burning pain with numbness and tingling in the hand and fingers. However Dr. Leahy the founder of ART discovered among more than 500 patients with repetitive motion disorders of upper extremity peripheral nerve entrapment, only two involved the carpal tunnel. He concluded there is an over diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome while many other nerve entrapment sites may cause carpal tunnel-like syndrome.
The peripheral nerves are composed of single cells extending from the spinal cord; pressure in one area makes the entire nerve prone to even the slightest pressures in other areas along its course.He claims many patients suffer from ‘whole nerve syndrome’ and cannot be treated as if a single site is the cause of all the problems.
Cases of carpal tunnel syndrome are often not resolved completely using massage or electrical muscle stimulation which only help to reduce muscle tension temporarily, without treating the underlying cause. Treatments using stretches, often results in additional problems and braces cause the problem to worsen due to increase in muscle tension.
Surgeryon a single site may be unsuccessful since again many other nerve entrapment sites may cause carpal tunnel-like syndrome.
Active Release Technique (ART) is very effective for the treatment of carpal tunnel-like syndrome. Instead of focusing on a single site, ART restores unrestrained motion and function to all the soft tissues.