SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT OF FEMALE OFFICE WORKERS WITH REPETITIVE STRESSINJURY OR CARPAL-TUNNEL SYNDROME BY A NEW TREATMENT MODALITY - APPLICATION OF LOW-LEVEL LASER
E. Wong et al., SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT OF FEMALE OFFICE WORKERS WITH REPETITIVE STRESSINJURY OR CARPAL-TUNNEL SYNDROME BY A NEW TREATMENT MODALITY - APPLICATION OF LOW-LEVEL LASER, International journal of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, 33(4), 1995, pp. 208-211
Female office workers with desk jobs who are incapacitated by pain and
tingling in the hands and fingers are often diagnosed by physicians a
s ''repetitive stress injury'' (RSI) or ''carpal tunnel syndrome'' (CT
S). These patients usually have poor posture with their head and neck
stooped forward and shoulders rounded; upon palpation, they have pain
and tenderness at the spinous processes C5-T1 and the medial angle of
the scapula. In 35 such patients we focused the treatment primarily at
the posterior neck area and not the wrists and hands. A low level las
er (100 mW) was used and directed at the tips of the spinous processes
C5-T1. The laser rapidly alleviated the pain and tingling in the arms
, hands and fingers, and diminished tenderness at the involved spinous
processes. Thereby, it has become apparent that many patients labelle
d as having RST or CTS have predominantly cervical radicular dysfuncti
on resulting in pain to the upper extremities which can be managed by
low level laser. Successful long-term management involves treating the
soft tissue lesions in the neck combined with correcting the abnormal
head, neck and shoulder posture by taping, cervical collars, and clav
icle harnesses as well as improved work ergonomics.