Is Your Workstation Causing Wrist Pain?
If you spend long hours at a computer, your workstation setup could be contributing to wrist, hand, or forearm pain. Small ergonomic changes can help reduce strain, improve comfort, and lower your risk of developing repetitive strain injuries.
Position Your Workspace
Keep your keyboard and mouse close so your elbows stay by your sides and bent at around 90 degrees. Your wrists should remain in a neutral (straight) position while typing, and your monitor should be directly in front of you with the top of the screen at eye level.
Don’t Stay Still
Even with a well-set-up workstation, sitting in one position for too long can lead to stiffness and pain. Take a short movement break every 30–60 minutes to stretch, change position, and gently move your hands, wrists, and shoulders.
When to Seek Help
If you’re experiencing ongoing hand, wrist or shoulder pain, early assessment can make a big difference. A hand therapist can identify the cause of your symptoms, provide ergonomic advice, prescribe exercises, and help you return to work comfortably.
At Melbourne Hand Therapy, we’re here to help you stay comfortable, productive, and pain-free at work.
Cat has recently been using Casting Motion to Mobilise Stiffness (CMMS) with a patient experiencing significant hand stiffness and difficulty regaining normal movement.
CMMS is a specialised hand therapy technique used when movement has not responded as expected to more commonly used treatments. A series of plaster or fibreglass casts is used to immobilise the joints that are moving well, allowing the patient to focus movement through the joints that remain restricted. This helps retrain normal movement patterns and restore functional hand use.
In this case, the patient was initially unable to flex through the base joints of the fingers. As movement improved, Cat incorporated a splint within the cast to help regain the final few degrees of movement. Over approximately two weeks, good progress was achieved, and treatment has now progressed to focus on improving movement through the middle and tip joints.
We’re excited to share that Dr. Phillip Hughes will be presenting to the Healthcare Australia team in September on the assessment and treatment of shoulder conditions in older adults.
Phillip leads the Melbourne Shoulder Therapy team and has extensive experience in the assessment and rehabilitation of shoulder conditions, with a particular interest in evidence-based management of rotator cuff and other common shoulder presentations.
The session will focus on practical considerations when treating geriatric patients, including how age-related changes, function, strength and co-existing health conditions can influence assessment, rehabilitation and treatment planning.
It’s a great opportunity for Phillip to share some of the clinical knowledge behind Melbourne Shoulder Therapy with other health professionals and to highlight the importance of individualised, evidence-based shoulder care across all stages of life.
We’re looking forward to seeing Phillip represent Melbourne Hand Therapy and Melbourne Shoulder Therapy in September, and hopefully sharing some key learnings from the session afterwards.
This month we’re recognising Max for his fantastic contribution to Melbourne Hand Therapy.
Max continues to manage a very busy caseload and is highly regarded by his patients for his calm, knowledgeable and approachable manner.
He has also recently presented to local GPs about Melbourne Hand Therapy and the role of hand therapy, and welcomed university students into the clinic who were keen to learn more about the profession.
Thanks Max for the care, knowledge and enthusiasm you bring to your patients and the wider MHT team.
Have you experienced exceptional care or teamwork from someone at MHT? We’d love to hear about it.
Help us celebrate those who go above and beyond.
