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820-828 V. Pille, V.-R. Tuulik, S. Saarik, P. Tint,, T. Vare and R. Sepper
Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms in industrial workers and the effect of balneotherapy
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Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms in industrial workers and the effect of balneotherapy

V. Pille¹, V.-R. Tuulik², S. Saarik², P. Tint¹,*, T. Vare² and R. Sepper¹

¹Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate 5, EE19086 Tallinn, Estonia 2Tallinn University Haapsalu College, Lihula 1, EE90507 Haapsalu, Estonia *Correspondence: piia.tint@ttu.ee

Abstract:

The aim of the paper is to present balneotherapy (mud treatment) effect in the rehabilitation and prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) of industrial workers. Balneotherapy significantly reduces the muscle pain complaints of the employees. The m.abductor pollicis brevis muscle tension measured decreased after the balneotherapy. The study included overall 114 industrial workers (91 female and 23 male persons from garment and woodworking industries) with professional overuse of the upper extremities. The average age of the workers was 49.1 (from 22 to 75) years, their average length of the service was 16.2 years. The main result of the questioning of the workers about the pain regions: there was quite a high incidence of musculoskeletal pain in the investigated workers with a work-related upper extremity syndrome: neck 68.4%, shoulders 63.2%, elbows 42.1% and wrists 78.9%. In the course of the study, balneotherapy was applied to 19 (13 female and 6 male) industrial workers who had pain at least in two regions of the body. The average age of these workers was 50.6 years and the average length of the service 21.3. After the balneotherapy, the 19 industrial workers’ complaints of pain in the neck and in the wrists decreased from 2.37 to 1.13 points (p = 0.05) and from 3.25 to 1.03 points (p = 0.007) respectively on the VAS pain scale. Objective measurement of muscle fatigue with a myotonometer showed the decrease in the stiffness of hand muscles (Abd poll brev, right: from 278 nM-1 until 342 nM-1, p = 0.006). The results indicated that more attention should be paid to the early diagnostics and preventive measures. Key words: physical overload, musculoskeletal disorders, myotonometry, industrial workers, balneotherapy.INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL BASIS

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