The terms “mouse arm“, “secretary’s disease”, or “repetitive strain injury syndrome” (RSI syndrome) are generic terms for an overload syndrome of the hand, arm, shoulder and neck region. The symptoms occur in 60% of people who work more than 3 hours a day at the computer, such as secretaries or graphic designers. In the meantime, other occupational groups are also becoming increasingly ill – because the frequent use of small electronic devices such as cell phones or Playstations is resulting in increased monotonous stress on the hands. Nevertheless, the clinical picture is still relatively unknown in Germany. The situation is different in the USA, where the mouse arm is already recognized as an occupational disease.
Stretching exercises
People who suffer from a mouse arm are often professionally forced to spend a lot of time sitting. This causes the muscles on the front of the body to shorten. As a result, muscle tension is increased and mobility is restricted.
Stretching exercises help to reduce muscle tension and increase or restore the range of motion. To achieve this, the stretching exercises must be repeated frequently, preferably 3-5 times a day. In addition to the described exercises for hand and arm, patients should also do light stretching exercises for the head and neck area to relieve tension.
To do this, it is sufficient for patients to tilt their head in one direction at a time in an upright posture and hold the position for about 10 seconds. For all exercises, the correct execution is crucial. For this reason, patients should always consult a physiotherapist, who will instruct the exercises and monitor their execution.
- The easiest stretching exercise with a mouse arm is to let the arms fall down to the side of the body and swing with them. Additionally, the arms should be shaken out and the wrists should be rotated.
- Another type of stretching is achieved by stretching the arms and hands up to the maximum and maintaining this position for about 10 seconds while sitting or even better while standing. You can try to alternately stretch one arm even further upwards.
- Another possibility is to stretch both arms forward at right angles and form a strong fist with both hands.
Then the fingers are opened very slowly and the fingers are spread and stretched as far apart as possible.
- For the next exercise, stand in front of a wall about an arm’s length away. Now press your hands firmly against the wall with outstretched arms (wrists are angled and fingertips point upwards). The exerciser should make sure to stand upright and hold the stretch for 10 seconds.
If you want to intensify the stretching, turn your fingertips towards each other. Alternatively, the hands can be pressed against each other at chest height.
- During the next exercise, the person concerned also stands upright. Now the affected arm is stretched out forward.
The wrist is bent so that the fingertips point towards the ceiling. The non-affected hand then presses against the affected fingers from the front. This intensifies the stretching. Hold the stretch for about 20 seconds.
