Mouse Elbow Raises Concern

Mike Booker, an occupational therapist with the Northwest Health Rehabilitation Therapy Agility Center in Bentonville, said he sees at least two patients per week who have cumulative elbow injuries.

The Arkansas Department of Labor estimated that of 12,154 reported work-related injuries in 2002, about 3.7 percent were repetitive-stress injuries. Formally known as lateral epicondylitis or medial epicondylitis, depending on what part of the elbow hurts, the condition is also known as “tennis elbow” or computer “mouse elbow” due to the repetitive work motions that sometimes cause it.

“People are reaching too far for their mouse,” Booker said. He added clients can also ail from “mouse shoulder.”

“People reach too far with a finger, they are in an extended position and the effect will travel all the way up the nerve pathway to the shoulder,” Booker said. “All the tendons up the arm, from your wrist to your elbow to your shoulder, get inflamed.”

Booker said the springtime usually increases his elbow patient load. People get involved in yard work and spring sports and get injured. Data entry, Booker said, is as big of a culprit as sports for tennis or golf elbow.

“We get a lot of Wal-Mart [employees],” Booker said. “It will start at work, and then they will go and work in the yard at home. Of course like all people, they try to ignore it as long as they can.”

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration recommends that mouse holders keep reaching distances to a minimum, use a wrist pad to support the arm, keep the wrist straight and forearm parallel with the desktop, avoid jerky movements and change positions frequently.

Booker recommends a couple remedies to ease the pain in addition to “good ol’ Advil:”

n Ice the area three times per day.

n Do the mouse elbow stretch: Extend the arm out, bend the wrist downward and make a fist. Feel the stretch all the way up to the shoulder. Repeat the stretch several times throughout the day.