Ergonomics At Home

This Holiday Season, Give Yourself the Gift of… PAIN-FREE HANDS AND ARMS

By: Adam Strohl MD FACS, Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon, Subspecialty in Hand Surgery Lauren DeTullio MS, OTR/L, CHT, Certified Hand Therapist, Clinical Education Director

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the overwhelming shift to work-from-home and virtual school, Philadelphia Hand to Shoulder Center has seen a sharp rise in patients complaining of numbness and tingling in their hands as well as painful wrists, forearms, and elbows. It is not surprising to find out that most of these patients are not working at an appropriate desk setting, and many are not using a desk at all, as couches, floors, kitchen tables and beds have become makeshift desks, leading to poor posture and extra strain on necks, shoulders, arms and hands.

In this new “virtual world” we are learning the value of ergonomics, which is defined as “the study of people in their work environment”. Its principles ensure that the demands of the job match the worker's physical capabilities. Good ergonomics can improve performance and increase productivity. Poor ergonomics can contribute to muscle imbalances that can result in strain and fatigue on the body. Poor posture, in particular, can affect your spine alignment and cause muscle pain in the neck, back and shoulders. Sometimes we can confuse symptoms as a result of poor ergonomics with other conditions such as eye strain, muscular pain and tingling in the upper extremity.

The improper positioning of the hands, arms, and neck while working for extended periods of time can place damaging strain on your tendons, nerves, and joints. This repetitive stress can cause inflammation that leads to soreness, swelling, sensory changes, limited mobility and even weakness. Overuse tendinitis such as DeQuervains at the wrist and lateral epicondylitis (or “Tennis Elbow”) at the elbow are common. Increased pressure on the nerves at the wrist and elbow can lead to episodic or progressively continuous numbness and/or tingling in the fingers such as carpal

and cubital tunnel syndromes. desk, using a collapsible step stool to support

Most often, our at-home work and virtual school your feet and taking regular breaks to move

stations don't offer a set up that has been properly around and stretch can make a difference.

designed and outfitted. Many people have gotten “comfortable” working from their couches, floor, We are all in this together, and the hand

kitchen table and their beds, however this surgeons and therapists at Philadelphia Hand

temporary comfort can be to Shoulder Center can help alleviate any

damaging to optimum discomfort in your hands, wrist, arms,

human performance and elbows and shoulders during this unusual

musculoskeletal health. and stressful time. Our experts offer nonsurgical care, leading-edge surgical

Philadelphia Hand to procedures and upper extremity therapy in

Shoulder Center can assess, 16 offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey

diagnose and treat the including Havertown, Glen Mills, Paoli and

aches, pains, and numbness King of Prussia. Our offices follow all CDC

in your hands, wrist, elbows COVID-19 safety recommendations to

and shoulders. We also offer protect our patients and our staff.

a comprehensive ergonomic Telemedicine appointments, from the

assessment and treatment comfort of your home, are also available.

program for each patient. Give us a call at (800)385-PHSC (7472) to

We create a customized schedule an appointment with us or visit us

program, starting with an at www. hand2shouldercenter.com for more

evaluation of each patient's information.

personal workstation. This evaluation can be done either in our office or during a telemedicine appointment. Our physicians and therapists will offer tips for removing common barriers to good ergonomics such as: poor lighting, the lack of support for one's feet while working and sitting for too long. Simple solutions like adding a desk lamp to your

Clinical Director of Therapy Lauren DeTullio,MS,OTR/CHT helps patients set up their at-home work and school stations to promote healthy posture that can reduce neck, shoulder, arm, wrist and hand pain while improving performance and increasing productivity.

By placing your wrist in a neutral position while typing, you can avoid nerve compression that can cause carpal tunnel syndrome and decrease stress on your wrist extensors that can cause tennis elbow.

All of us at Philadelphia Hand to Shoulder Center wish you and your family a safe, pain-free holiday season!