More than a decade ago, Delia Cisneros spent her days and nights in pain. Her job as manager for the University of Houston president’s house became unbearable as she struggled with carpal tunnel syndrome.

“I didn’t have the strength to hold a needle. I was in so much pain I couldn’t go to sleep at night and neither could my husband, because I cried so much,” Cisneros said, rubbing her hands and grimacing simultaneously.

The solution was surgery on both hands followed by a six-week recovery, Cisneros said, recalling the many times her husband and children brushed her teeth, washed her face and performed other simple tasks for her after the operation.

Today, faculty and staff members can opt for a less invasive approach to ease the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, one of the many injuries caused by repetitive motion. A call to the Office of Environmental Health and Risk Management is the first step.

The office offers an ergonomic program to help reduce such common injuries as carpal tunnel syndrome and lower back and neck pain, according to Billy Underwood, risk management administrator. The program also works to decrease workers’ compensation costs and absenteeism, he added.

Nat Oliva, claims coordinator, implements the UH program, which focuses primarily on assessing and designing a better workplace. During a visit to an office or other work area, Oliva offers advice on everything from chair height to keyboard placement to lighting to how to properly lift heavy objects. This year, Oliva already has assessed more than 50 workstations.

In one case, Oliva assisted Mitra Rahimi-Kiani, technology transfer associate in the Office of Intellectual Property Management, in reducing the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome by “having the right work environment.”

Oliva recommended Rahimi-Kiani place her keyboard on an adjustable platform and add a small stand under her computer monitor, allowing her to look at the screen at eye level. Oliva also suggested that she exercise her hands and arms, as well as improve her posture.

“I had to relearn how to sit,” Rahimi-Kiani said. She added that Oliva’s suggestions have helped a great deal.

“I notice that every time the environment changes, if the platform is not in the right place or if I’m not sitting correctly, it affects me. The pain becomes more excruciating,” she said.

Rahimi-Kiani, who has been suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome for a year and a half, encourages staff or faculty members who experience such pain to contact the environmental health and risk management office.

“In the past, people hesitated to let their supervisors know that they have carpal tunnel syndrome, and they pretty much lived with the pain; but, now there are ways to minimize, if not totally correct it,” she said.

As she prepares for a follow-up appointment with her neurologist, Rahimi-Kiani hopes that she will be able to avoid the surgery that was inescapable for Cisneros in the early 1990s.

Now a customer service representative 2 for UH OnCall in the Division of University Advancement, Cisneros hasn’t experienced any pain since her operation, and if the carpal tunnel syndrome does reappear, she knows where to go for help.

“I am so happy to know that there is actually a place at UH where we, faculty and staff, can get advice about how we can improve our workplace to our advantage,” Cisneros said.

For more information on UH’s ergonomics program, call the Office of Environmental Health and Risk Management at 713-743-5858.

Francine Parker
FParker@central.uh.edu