Posted By Richard I recently read of a compensation case involving tenosynovitis, reulting from keyboard work, and one of the observations made during the case was that the only other known at risk group was nursing mothers. Can any body explain why nursing mothers should be at risk from this condition? This is purely a personal enquiry - I am just absolutely baffled as to what the connection is! Richard

Posted By Sarah J Shaw Richard Having recently been a new mum I may have an answer to your query. I would suspect it is something to do with the Relaxin Hormone your body produces which causes all of the ligaments in the body to relax and lengthen to allow for the birth. This obviously increases the susceptability of an individual to this type of injury. For your information this condition will persist for up to six months after the birth as the body returns to normal and the effects wear off. We have recently added a new protocol for risk assessing new & expectant mothers as we have a lot of DSE workers and female staff involved in manual handling activities. If you would like additional information you can contact me at sarahs@fisher.co.uk or phone 01509 555051. Sarah J Shaw EHS Manager

Posted By John D Crosby The case referred to did involve a bank. The person had been carrying out nothing but keyboard work, processing and closing accounts. This involved use of one hand on the numeric section of the keyboard. The position of the keyboard was such that she had her wrist twisted to the right away from the thumb resulting in a condition known as De Quervain's tenosynvitis. This condition can arise with a nursing mother because of the way she may hold either her breast or the bottle when feeding the baby. The added complication is that the strain is exaggerated because of the hormonal changes that occur in pregnant ladies which will continue for at least six months or until she stops breast feeding. If the bank had carried out a proper assessment of the lady's workstation as she did the job then the lady would not have suffered the injury John C