Cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) are a broad diagnostic category characterized by musculoskeletal injuries that develop gradually due to microtraumas that cannot fully heal because of repeated stress, force, or awkward postures over time. Since many occupations and hobbies involve repetitive motions, CTDs commonly affect the arms and hands. Examples include:
Carpal tunnel syndrome results from compression of the median nerve as it passes through the wrist, leading to symptoms in the thumb, index, middle finger, and thumb-side of the ring finger. When the median nerve is hindered higher up in the forearm near the pronator teres muscle, the condition is…
