Lower Arm Pain Research Articles

Occupational cold exposure is associated with upper extremity pain.

Occupational cold exposure is common in Sweden but potential impacts on musculoskeletal disorders have not been thoroughly investigated. The primary aim of this study was to determine the associations between occupational contact and ambient cooling in relation to pain in the upper extremity. In this cross-sectional study, a digital survey was conducted on a population-based sample of women and men between 24 and 76 years of age, living in northern Sweden. Occupational cold exposure, heavy manual handling, work with vibrating tools as well as the presence of upper extremity pain at different sites were subjectively reported. Associations between exposure and outcome were evaluated using multiple binary logistic regression. The final study sample included 2,089 (54.4%) women and 1,754 men, with a mean age of 56 years. Hand pain was reported by 196 (5.2%), lower arm pain by 144 (3.8%), and upper arm pain by 451 (11.9%). Severe ambient cooling for more than half of the working time was statistically significantly associated with hand pain (OR: 2.30; 95% CI: 1.23-4.29) and upper arm pain (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.00-2.47) but not lower arm pain (OR: 1.87; 95% CI: 0.96-3.65) after adjusting for gender, age, body mass index, current daily smoking, heavy manual handling, and work with vibrating tools. Occupational cold exposure was statistically significantly associated with hand pain and upper arm pain. Therefore, occupational cold exposure should be recognized as a potential risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders in the upper extremity.

Investigation of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) in Warehouse Workers in Saudi Arabia

In many field organizations, such as those in the industrial and service sectors, poor working posture is a common issue that can lead to various human body problems, particularly musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and physiological stress. Numerous tasks in the workplace, particularly in the industrial sector (i.e., manual material handling tasks), require an individual to perform in poor working conditions to meet task demands. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate musculoskeletal disorders and identify ergonomic factors related to lower back, shoulder and lower arm pain in two types of manual tasks: lifting and pulling objects in supermarket warehouses. A total of 92 male workers (ages 26–38) participated; 45 workers performed lifting tasks (first posture) and 47 workers performed a task that involved pulling heavy objects (second posture). Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) and a pain self-report chart were used. The heart rate (HR) was continuously recorded to evaluate the physiological stresses of each task posture. The results showed that lifting task highly significantly impacted low back pain among all participants. In addition, the results found a significant correlation existed between trunk, upper arm and lower arm scores and all self-report charts of pain and discomfort in the lower back, upper arm and lower arm region for all participants. Also, the pulling heavy object task posture significantly affected the lower arm score and reflected a highest prevalence of MSDs on wrist body part. The results presented a significant association existed between lower arm and wrist scores and all self-report charts of pain and discomfort in the lower arm and wrist body parts of all participants. The higher HR value was associated with the lifting task posture. There was a significant difference between both task postures overall. The results of the study proved that the RULA method was a useful tool to assess the MSDs on body regions in manual lifting and pulling tasks.

Joint Laxity and Arm Pain in a Large Clinical Sample of Musicians

Joint laxity has long been reputed to be a risk factor for injury among instrumental musicians. The author reviewed the records of 2,387 instrumentalists seen at the Medical Program for Performing Artists from 1985 to March 2002. Of the 1,300 patients with lower-arm, wrist, and hand pain, 57% were females and 43% were males. For the purpose of analyzing these musicians’ injuries, the author defines joint laxity as being more than 10 degrees hyper-extensibility of the metacarpophalangeal and/or proximal interphalangeal finger joints. Using this definition, an average of 35% of the female musicians had significant laxity associated with lower-arm pain, while such laxity was evident in an average of 17% of the males. Analyzing the data with respect to individual instrument class, significant laxity associated with hand pain ranged from a high of 82% to a low of 10% among the female musicians, and ranged between only 19% and 13% among the male musicians.