Sanam Rana
CIHSR Dimapur
Citizens in the society have multiple responsibilities towards the community be it at home, office, church, schools, colleges, hospitals etc. We work every day to meet our daily needs and requirements. When the working individual is affected with a painful health disorders it does affect the quality of work with increased absenteeism and decreased productivity on the individual organization.
The term musculoskeletal injury denotes health problems of muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skeleton, & nerves. WMSDs occur if the mechanical workload is higher than the load-bearing capacity of the musculoskeletal structures.
This article brings to youan understanding on the Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) which is one of the common disabling condition among the working population. The affected person can be a manual laborer or a person sitting at the desk and working on the computer, Soldier and traffic police or health care professionals such as physician, surgeons, dentist, physiotherapist, nurses and laboratory professionals having different nature of work. WMSDs are a major problem with serious consequences for workers, organization and society in general. Musculoskeletal system in the body involves muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments. It includes nerves and blood vessels too as this two vital structures passes through the structures of muscles and bones to reach its target organ and structures.
Any musculoskeletal injury need not be due to a traumatic event, it can occur due to non-traumatic event such as exposure to certain risk behaviors i.e. working in an awkward position, doing repetitive motion and applying vigorous force are all the causes of work related musculoskeletal injury. WMSDs is a chronic condition that develops over a period of time. It takes months and some cases years to develop following exposure to risk behaviors. The Bureau of labor statistics (2018) reported that in the private workplace industry, there were approximately 2.9 million nonfatal injuries in the workplace in 2016 around the world.
There are two types of injury in WMSDs, acute and chronic. Acute injury is caused by a strong and heavy load leading to a sudden failure in structure and function for example tearing of a muscle due to a sudden heavy lift or fracture of bone due to direct or indirect trauma. Chronic injuryis mainly due to prolonged and continuous exposure to risk behavior that caused permanent overload to the body structure for example wear and tear of ligaments and/or muscles and other soft tissue structures.
Risk factors of WMSDs are: 1. Ergonomic risk factor and 2. Individual risk factor.
Ergonomic risk factors include force, repetitive nature of work and bad posture. Individual risk factors include poor work practices, poor health habits and poor fitness. Thecontinuous exposure to such risk factors over the years will lead to WMSDs.
About one-third of injuries in working population are Back injuries followed by Pain Syndrome of the Neck. Some of the common musculoskeletal disorders include Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tendonitis, Muscle/Tendon Strain, Ligament Sprain, Tension Neck Syndrome, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, Rotator Cuff Tendonitis, Epicondylitis, Radial Tunnel Syndrome, Digital Neuritis, Trigger Finger/Thumb, DeQuervain’s Syndrome, Degenerative Disc Disease and Ruptured/Herniated Disc.
Signs & Symptoms of WMSDs include pain, stiffness, swelling, tingling & numbness of limbs, weakness or clumsiness, fatigue and discomfort. WMSDs progress in stages from mild to severe.
• Early stage: Aching and tiredness occur in the affected limb or region during work shift and disappears at night & days off work. There is no reduction of work performance
• Intermediate stage: Aching & tiredness occur early in the work shift and may persist at night. There is a reduced capacity in work performance
• Late stage: Aching, fatigue and weakness persist at rest & Inability to sleep. Unable to perform duties/work
WMSDs is the common reason of job impairment & disability that in turn leads to economical cost for individuals and organizations. WMSDs are reported to significantly impact quality of life, lossof work time or absenteeism, increase work restriction, transfer to another job. Good ergonomic practice and exercises can drastically reduce the likelihood of severity of WMSDs.
“ERGONOMICS + ONSITE PHYSIOTHERAPY INTERVENTION = COST SAVINGS TO EMPLOYERS > DECREASED WMSDS > INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY > FASTER RETURN TO WORK FOR EMPLOYEES > DECREASED ABSENTEEISM”
Physiotherapist are health care professionals that helps to prevent and treat musculoskeletal conditions through Education, Ergonomic Training, Workplace Safety Modifications, Exercise Prescription, Electrotherapy Modalities and Hands on Manual Interventions. Therefore, Physiotherapist plays an important role in preventing Work related Musculoskeletal Disorder (WMSDs).
FOLLOW SAFE WORK PRACTICES and DO REGULAR EXERCISES IN YOUR WORK PLACE.
The writer is MPT Orthopedics, Senior Physiotherapist, Physiotherapy Unit, Department of PMR at Christian Institute of Health Sciences & Research, Dimapur.
