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What is wrist pain and posture?
For many of us, a bulk of our productive hours are spent sitting in front of a desk. Since everything that we interact with is placed in front of us, our body begins to slouch forward and internally rotate.
I often find myself sitting like this without knowing. So why does our body do this? Our body likes to move in the path of least resistance, and this posture is actually very comfortable and feel natural for our body. However, this posture funnels a lot of load onto certain structures of our body. Let’s focus on two common wrist injuries that people often experience as a result.
Carpal tunnel syndrome
The wrist has what’s called a carpal tunnel on the side of your palm where the median nerve and many tendons of the finger muscles travel through.
When the hand is resting on a surface with the palm down, the weight on the hand can compress this tunnel. On top of that, many of us like to pivot off the wrist to control the mouse, adding even more pressure. When you repeatedly use your finger muscles, often when typing or clicking on the mouse, the tendons attaching to those muscles glide back and forth inside the tunnel.
The combination of compression and friction can cause damage and inflame the tendons in the tunnel. Tendons become swollen and thicker when inflames, taking up more space in the tunnel. This leads to a vicious cycle of more compression and friction, eventually compressing the median nerve leading to the unpleasant sensations characterized by tingling, numbness, and sometimes burning pain in the hand.
Ulnar wrist pain and clicking
There is a muscle called extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) that runs from your elbow to your hand. When your wrist is in a position with your palm down, this muscle is in a shortened position. If this position is prolonged due to working on the computer, it becomes easy for the ECU to tense up and shorten. When shortened and tight, the tendon attaching the ECU can catch over a pointy bony prominence (styloid process) on your wrist as you move your wrist, causing pain and clicking.
These issues may not resolve on their own and may continue to get worse with how much time we spend on the computer.
So what can we do?
The common element of posture in both injuries is having your hand in palm down position, also known as pronation.
You’ve likely heard about the importance of a good posture when you are sitting during work.
What have you heard about good posture ?
“You need to sit up right, have your elbows at 90 degrees, have your body well supported, and level your desk and computer to accommodate this position.”
But guess what? Pronation is still present in what we believe to be a typical “good posture.”
So fixing your posture is not enough!
So what can we really do?
First, take frequent breaks and get out of pronation. We often work non-stop and keep our wrist in pronation for a prolonged period. Give yourself an excuse to get up and move around!
You should also exercise and massage the above muscles, flexor tendons and ECU, to relieve tension.
What about ergonomics? Here are some recommendations specific to carpal tunnel syndrome and wrist clicking related to pronation.
In summary, there are positions that we simply cannot avoid and this is the limitation of postural correction. Our bodies are meant to move and unfortunately, movement prescription is often forgotten in therapy. Consider speaking with an experts such as ergonomists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and chiropractors who can help you with your posture-related wrist pain.
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