With the increasing awareness of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), ergonomists have been struggling to decide how to best educate workers to avoid CTS. Wrist posture, wrist shape, table height, elbow angles, repetitive motion, and arthritis have all been named as contributory factors. Many preventative techniques have been recommended, but the wrist rest has become the most widely used and most controversial ergonomic application in avoiding CTS.
Much of the research that has been done on wrist rests has provided no clear indication that using wrist rests can help in the prevention of CTS. Additionally, many of the controversies surrounding wrist rests question whether they can alleviate discomfort, or worse, cause damage themselves when they are used improperly.
Although this controversy exists, there are a few points most ergonomists do agree on in relation to wrist rest use. Wrist rests serve better as a reminder than as an actual resting place for your hands, wrists, and arms. Your wrists should remain above the keyboard in a straight, neutral position. It is important to buy a rest that is even with the lip of the keyboard in order to prevent too much hand and finger flexion and extension. Secondly, it is very important that the rest be made of a medium-soft material. A foam that is too soft will break down and leave indentations where the wrists pressed down. The medium-soft foam and gel-filled foam wrist rests seem to provide the greatest benefit and are much less dangerous than the hard plastic rests.
The biggest mistake people make is leaving or pressing their wrists on the rest while typing, or even resting. You should never press the soft underside of your wrists on anything. This will do more harm than good by compressing the carpal area. This has prompted more and more companies to begin to refer to wrist rests as ãpalm restsä since the heel of the palm can more easily withstand pressure. They are hoping to convey the idea that rests are only a place to rest your hands while pausing.
It is important to remember that a wrist rest is not an inexpensive fix-all solution to your ergonomic problems. Perhaps one of the first things to do in trying to prevent CTS is to learn to type correctly, specifically typing with floating wrists, above the keyboard, palms not touching anything. If resting your palms while typing is necessary, it is best to do it in a more wrist-neutral position. A properly fitted palm rest can enhance this position.
The repetitive nature of a majority of office tasks puts office employees at risk for overuse injuries such as CTS. Please be aware that the Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Office is available to conduct an ergonomic assessment of your working environment or provide ergonomic informational sessions to yourself or any groups on campus. If you would like to request these services or if you have any other workplace environmental health and safety questions, please contact the EH&S Office at 785-6800, Maintenance and Stores Building.
If you have
any questions regarding these procedures please contact your
supervisor or Dan
Sweetman, Environmental Health,Safety and Risk Manager,
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, 855 East Avenue North, La
Crosse, WI 54601 EMail: sweetman.dani@uwlax.edu Telephone:
(608)785-6800 Fax: (608)785-6577
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Last modified: 08/14/02
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