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Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Is The #1 Crippler Of Our Workforce!
We
pray with our hands and often communicate with them. We use
them to eat, work, and to make love. We employ them as
marvelously sophisticated instruments of flexibility and
strength and when they are damaged, we anguish.
----- Keith Moore, Clinically Oriented Anatomy
I’ve
met, spoken to, and worked-on as clients, tens of thousands of
people who have repetitive strain injuries.
I am happy to say that many who tried my program, found
relief and returned to a functioning and productive life.
Ten
years have passed since the printing of my first edition of
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Prevention and Treatment. The 4th
edition was re-titled,
End Your Carpal Tunnel Pain Without Surgery, (Rutledge
Hill Press). Carpal
tunnel syndrome, or CTS/MSD’s, (work-related
muscular-skeletal injuries)/RSD’s (repetitive strain
disorders) all are the same term for an injury caused by a
repetitive motion. Carpal
Tunnel Syndrome, the most widely known, is the #1 reported
medical problem. CTS
account’s for approximately 50% of all work-related injuries
according to the 1997-2000 Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
More than eight million people
are affected by carpal tunnel syndrome each year. Surgery for
carpal tunnel syndrome is the second most common type of
musculoskeletal surgery, (back surgery is #1) with well over
230,000 procedures performed annually. ONLY 23% of all carpal
tunnel syndrome patients returned to their previous
professions following surgery, according to the Bureau of
Labor & Statistics and the National Institute for
Occupational Safety & Health (1997-2000 Statistics).
Worker’s compensation cases of RSD have skyrocketed,
and companies, today, feel the strain of this epidemic. Carpal
tunnel syndrome costs companies billions of dollars each year
in worker’s compensation claims, lost revenue and lost
workdays. Women
account for 45% of the workers, and they experience nearly
2/3rds of all work-related repetitive strain injuries.
Thirty-six percent of all carpal tunnel syndrome
patients require unlimited medical treatment, according to the
National Bureau of Labor and Statistics and National Institute
for Health (1997-2000). Unlimited
treatment is defined as a possible repeat of the surgery,
physical therapy, and/or pain medication.
Carpal
Tunnel Syndrome surgery deals ONLY with the symptoms, not the
cause. Nothing
has changed other than to further increase/create the business
of carpal tunnel syndrome for the doctors.
Various organizations are protecting their interests
through ignorance and loss of revenue. Carpal tunnel syndrome, is the only surgery that has a
“carte blanche” acceptance without first trying
non-invasive treatment programs such as chiropractic or muscle
therapy. These
programs are more cost effective because an employee will have
less down time from work and will be able to return to work
sooner. The fail
rate for carpal tunnel surgery is over 50%.
Many times I meet women who have undergone multiple
surgeries, still unable to work and struggling with chronic
pain.
Why
is carpal tunnel syndrome prevalent among the workforce?
I believe there are five reasons for this: 1. A lack of
education and knowledge about the disorder, 2. A failure to
understand the body is part of the solution with ergonomics,
3. A failure to use alternative medicine therapies as
non-invasive and cost effective treatment programs, 4. The
failure of allopathic medicine, mostly through ignorance, to
utilize alternative therapies as a treatment approach, and 5.
Insurance companies, follow outdated regulations without
investigating noninvasive options for the patient that keep
alternative therapies out of the loop for payment for carpal
tunnel syndrome and other musculoskeletal injuries.
Healing
a repetitive strain injury is not just a one-time visit - - it
is a lifetime of wellness!
Carpal
tunnel syndrome does not require a surgical procedure in most
cases. The
alternative medicine (natural) therapies listed in this book,
when applied early, are preventative.
An individual, in less time, can be returned to a
functional and productive life faster and more reliably, than
through an allopathic approach.
Because many insurance companies do not compensate for
alternative therapies, eight out of ten people using these
therapies, pay out-of-pocket to maintain their health and well
being.
The
Information Age, a New Century of Promise, Technology –
bigger, faster – race, race, race – go, go, go…where
does it all end? As
we become more and more stationary, the demands on our bodies increase. Work
today requires less physical activity, due to technology.
Our bodies are moving farther and farther out of
balance as we increase stress of less activity with more
mental activity, and muscular tension.
It never stops! Our job depends on our performance and productivity. The risk
is not a risk anymore, it is a reality that someone your know
will develop a repetitive strain disorder.
Future
Generations…
Children
are taught to use a computer as early as two years old.
The terms from the ‘90’s, “Nintendo Thumb, Space
Invaders Wrist, Gameboy Wrist, Trackball Thumb,” are as
prevalent today. Computer
video games, joy sticks, track balls, keypads, all demand a
child to move fast, and to reach awkwardly, to look up, not
straight ahead, and to sit on the edge of a chair that does
not support or fit their body.
Computer classrooms are the norm now.
Computer classes are part of their educational
curriculum. Children
are taught how to use a computer but not to take care of their
body or to set up a safe computer workstation.
There is little ergonomic support in our schools to
protect our child’s body when not on the court or
playground. The
potential for repetitive strain injury during the
developmental years is real.
Further education on body mechanics and workstation
safety is necessary so our children will not suffer the pain
of repetitive strain disorder.
As I write this, Childhood RSD’s are a reality.
The possibilities of the fullness of life require good
health, and technology may rob our children of their future,
both in and out of the workplace.
Knowledge
of prevention and maintenance techniques, combined with the
understanding of what a safe workstation entails, can decrease
the risk of repetitive strain injury.
The combination of these two effective programs can
help stop the carpal tunnel syndrome epidemic from spreading
to future generations.
I
sincerely hope that the information contained in this book
will inspire you to begin a preventive program for you and
your children, before the pain of carpal tunnel syndrome and
other repetitive strain disorders robs you and your family of
a functional and productive life.
I
wish you good luck in your search for the truth. We all deserve the right to a pain free, healthy body and a
life full of possibilities! |
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