Week3 Discussion: Cumulative Trauma Disorder
Week3 Discussion: Cumulative Trauma Disorder
Thecumulative trauma disorder (CTD) is a health condition that occurswhen sensitive nerves, tendons, and muscles undergo excessive tearand wear. The tear and wear must have occurred for a long timefollowing the patient’s engagement in repetitive activities, poorwork posture, and repetitive use of force at work (Turhan, Akat,Akyuz & Cakci, 2008). Some of the most problematic issuesassociated with CTD include tingling of hands, loss of coordinationof hands, discomfort in the patient’s hands, pain in arms, fingers,and the wrist. This implies that the most critical occupationalskills that are lost when one contract CTD include mobility andcoordination. These skills reduce gradually, which means that theperformance of the affected person continues to decline with time.
Patientssuffering from CTD, especially those who feel pain in the hands andfingers have an unpredictable performance patters. This is becausethey tend to have a better performance when the symptoms are low andpoor performance when the pain becomes excess. In some cases, thepatient may ask for sick leave, take several breaks while at theplace of work, or terminate the employment, which leads to zerooccupational performance (Turhan etal.,2008). The most affected population of workers includes those whoengage in activities that demand repetitive performance of tasks, useof force, and frequent movement of arms and fingers. Moreover, CTDlimits the client’s ability to engage successfully in the socialcontext since they cannot take part in social events (such as sports)that are part of the social life (DiFiori, Benjamin, Gregory,Jayanthi, Like & Landry, 2015). Belief and the ability to viewthings from the positive perspective are some of the client factorsthat help patients continue working and enhance their OC performance.The intervention of occupational therapists is required in order tohelp clients acquire new skills and work without subjectingthemselves to postures and movements that increase pain.
References
DiFiori,P., Benjamin, J., Gregory, A., Jayanthi, N., Like, A., & Landry,L. (2015). Overuse injuries and burnout in youth sports: A positionstatement from the American medical society sport medicine. ClinicalJournal of Sports Medicine,24, 3-20. Retrieved May 18, 2016, fromhttps://www.amssm.org/Content/pdf%20files/2014_OverUse_Injuries-Burnout.pdf
Turhan,N., Akat, C., Akyuz, M., & Cakci, A. (2008). Ergonomic riskfactors for cumulative trauma disorder in VDU operations.InternationalJournal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics,14 (4), 417-422.