Malaysian Orthopaedics Association president Datuk Dr Badrul Shah Badaruddin said usage of computers at work is also a prominent cause of CTS.
CARPAL Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) cases are on the rise, especially among youths, due to the increased usage of smartphone and other technological devices in the last decade, says an expert. Alpha Specialist Centre consultant hand and microsurgeon Dr Terence Tay said the ubiquity of smartphone usage, especially on instant messaging platforms and social media contributed to the alarming increase of repetitive stress injury among youths. He said based on his patient records, copious texting via closed messaging platforms such as WhatsApp led to about 30 per cent increase of CTS cases in the last decade. “This is especially when they use their thumbs on the touch screens and send over 200 messages daily,” Dr Tay said. “The repetitive action and the awkward positioning increase the pressure at the base of the thumb, making them more prone to CTS.” According to Connected Life, a study by global research consultancy TNS of over 60,000 Internet users worldwide last year, Malaysia recorded 77 per cent of daily usage of closed messaging platforms. Based on similar complaints from Dr Tay’s CTS patients, they experienced numbness when they texted extensively for more than four months. “Normally, repetitive movements lead to tissue inflammation and irritation after a prolonged period of time,” he said. Dr Tay said the trend of constant texting had also seen between 20 and 30 per cent increase of CTS cases in the last few years among youth, aged between 20 and 35 years old. “Last time, CTS is more common among the elderly but now it (the tendency of developing CTS) is ‘getting younger’. “The trend involving more younger populations…that is the worrying part,” he said. “Besides youths, elderly make up half, followed by manual workers at about 30 per cent of a total cases, which is about 500 cases annually at present.” Dr Tay added other groups at risk of CTS are women (as their wrist is smaller with similar nerve content than man), including pregnant women (due to water retention). Malaysian Orthopaedics Association president Datuk Dr Badrul Shah Badaruddin said usage of computers at work is also a prominent cause of CTS. “CTS is more common for those patients who do a lot desk work especially involving typing (in a long period of time without rest). “The condition affects 0.1 to 10 per cent of the general population but only 10 to 20 per cent CTS patients require surgery,” he said. He said the disease is also prevalent in those who are in repetitive work conditions involving vibrations (work using hand held vibrating tools such as mechanics) and hand movements. “It should be a worrying trend especially for employers as it prevents sufferers from working efficiently as well as taking them away from work for treatments,” he said. – The Malay Mail * This article was published on May 26, 2016