Work-related upper extremity pain
Kathleen H. Baldivia, MD
Like many fresh young graduates, Mark jumped on the call center bandwagon. He liked interacting with people and saw it as a great opportunity to develop his communication and technical skills. Plus it would certainly get his foot in the door and fast track his career into a corporate job for the multinational firm that he always dreamed of working for.
For many a night in his parent's modest home south of Manila, Mark would run his hands over the grain of the weathered plywood table that passed for his study desk. He would picture himself sitting in a comfortable leather chair in some high-rise executive suite, with windows that overlooked the panoramic expanse of the city's business district. The thought of having his personal secretary to help him sort out his packed meeting schedule, juggle his string of in-demand corporate presentations, and screen calls on his behalf made him giddy. Mark found himself staring at his hands and planted a kiss on his palms, grinning at an inspired thought. Oh yes indeed, these hands of his would someday be shaking those of some taipan's, closing one mega deal after another. And he was sure that this call center job would allow him to make downpayments for all those expensive gadgets he'd wanted to own in half the time it would take him in most other entrylevel positions.
Mark relished his first few months at his call center job which he felt was tailor-made for him. He slipped easily into the routine of sitting at his workstation for hours at a stretch, taking in-bound calls from customers a timezone away who needed technical support. He would pound repetitively on his keyboard and hunch over his computer screen to scrounge up data needed to walk his callers through troubleshooting procedures. The more complicated calls took significantly longer to wrap up, and although these were the calls that gave him the most satisfaction to work through, the longer hours often had Mark slouching in his work chair, holding his neck and shoulders at awkward angles to relieve muscle tension and fatigue. The hot-desking typical of call centers did not allow Mark the luxury of a workstation customized to his physical needs. The minute he came in to work, he'd sit at any available station and get down to business, giving little thought to adjusting his chair and desktop needs to come up with a more ergonomic set-up.
Wishing to fatten his paycheck, Mark soon found himself in situations he didn't sign up for: the weariness of late nights, internalizing his caller's problems, and missing out on family time as he had to work on weekends and holidays. Eventually, Mark started to develop pain in his neck and upper back. He was bothered by tingling sensations that ran down his palms and fingers. His upper back felt fatigued and his shoulders ached. For Mark, the so-called "sunshine industry" had started to take on a pallor of its own.
Find out more about these common musculoskeletal problems that plague many office workers and strategies not only for treatment but also for holistic injury prevention in the workplace. Sign up for the UP Med Webinar 2016 Series, a learning activity offered throughout this year by the UP College of Medicine Class of 1991 as it celebrates its silver jubilee. The webinar series is held every first and last Wednesday of the month from 12:00-13:00 GMT+8. Each live hourlong online seminar will feature a 30 minute presentation on a clinical topic by doctors from UPCM Class 1991 who are experts in their field. Also joining the lecture hour will be a guest physician reactor who will offer key opinions on the subject discussed. A 15 minute Q&A segment from the audience just before the hour concludes will be made possible by sending in questions through a weblink. The activity is designed for physicians, medical students and other health care professionals.
We invite you all to join the next webinar focusing on "Work-Related Upper Extremity Pain", scheduled on March 30, 12:00-13:00 GMT+8 to be discussed by Dr. Melissa ZamucoMercado. Joining Dr. Mercado as reactor will be Dr. Jose Anthony Q. Jocson. Registration is free. To register/join, kindly use the details below:
Link: https://attendee.goto webinar.com/register/36390111254 88996097 Webinar ID: 159-202-507 The webinar will run on GoToWebinar. Once you register, you will receive a confirmation message with the link to access the webinar.
If you encounter difficulties in registering/connecting, you may view the webinar in real time on livestream.upm.edu.ph
For questions kindly email the UP Med Webinars 2016 team at upmedwebinars2016@gmail.com or Ms. Charisse Orjalo at chasorjalo@telehealth.ph.
UP Med Webinars 2016 is a project of the UPCM Class 1991 in collaboration with the UP Post Grad Institute of Medicine, UP Medical Informatics Unit, and the UP Medical Alumni Society.