Most health and safety professionals agree that a solid ergonomics program starts with basic training directed at both employees and management. As a trainer, you may briefly touch upon medical solutions for the various cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs), but hesitate to go into much detail — probably because you’ve been advised that only medical professionals should dispense medical information. But my personal experiences as both an ergonomic trainer and a recent patient have convinced me that ergonomic instruction must go deeper into the medical aspects of CTDs. I hope sharing my experience will persuade you to do the same.

I knew that the median nerve could be involved when I explained my symptoms to an internal medicine specialist, but I was jolted when I heard the words carpal tunnel syndrome. As a professional, I knew what causes these disorders, and I hadn’t been exposed to any kind of cumulative or singular trauma. Because of my skepticism, the doctor ordered some additional X-rays of my spine.