持久性疼痛反复拉伤最常发生在做大量重手工活的操作员中。

Neck, shoulder, hand or arm pain can develop in computer users, but the connection between keyboard typing and carpal tunnel syndrome remains controversial.

颈，肩，手或手臂疼痛常发生在计算机用户身上，但键盘打字和腕管综合症之间的联系仍然是有争议的。

Companies often report that ergonomic workplace measures lead to fewer days lost from work, though researchers are still seeking rigorous scientific proof that these interventions are effective.

公司经常报告说，符合人体工程学的工作措施，能提高工作效率，但研究人员仍然在寻求严格的科学证据证明这些措施是卓有成效的。

It is a fact of life that job and career can be stressful.

事实上，在生活中，工作和职业是通满压力。

But some occupations also take a physical toll: persistent aching, throbbing or tingling in the hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder or neck.

但是，一些职业还对身体造成一定的伤害：手，腕，肘，肩或颈部等的持续疼痛，抽搐或刺痛。

These insidious soft-tissue ailments — variously known as repetitive strain injuries, cumulative trauma disorders or work-related musculoskeletal disorders — include the debilitating nerve injury of carpal tunnel syndrome and the inflamed tendons of tendinitis .

这些慢慢恶化的软组织疾病即各种称为重复性应变性损伤，累积创伤失调或与工作有关的肌肉骨骼疾患-包括虚弱神经损伤的腕管综合症和肌腱发炎的肌腱炎。

They not only can cripple a person’s ability to earn a living.

他们不仅可以削弱一个人的谋生的能力。

 They may also make it difficult even to twist the lid off a jar, wash the dishes or turn the steering wheel.

它们甚至可能造成难于拧开盖子，洗碗，或把方向盘。

Therapies like steroid injections, pain relievers or surgery can go a long way in alleviating pain.

类固醇注射，止痛济或手术之类治疗方法对减轻疼痛很有帮助。

But treatments do not always offer a definitive cure, and injuries can recur.

但这些治疗方法也不一定能最终治好，并且这类损伤还会重复造成。

Prevention is therefore paramount.

因此，预防是至关重要的。

To reduce the risk of injury, many workplaces, with help from researchers, have adopted ergonomic interventions: measures that tailor equipment or job routines to accommodate the human body.

为了降低伤害的风险，由于得到研究人员的帮助，许多工作场所，采用了符合人体工程学的干预措施如：调整设备或工作程序，以适应人体的措施。

But while real-world success stories abound, scientists are still sorting through the evidence to determine which ergonomic measures really work.

在现实世界中成功的事例比比皆是，但是科学家们仍然要通过对比，以确定哪些符合人体工程学的措施，更加有效。

Each year, more than 100,000 new cases of upper-extremity ailments are reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration .

每年有超过100000例上下肢疾病的病类报告提交给 职业安全和健康管理局 。无论是在制造业，建筑业，肉类包装或护理业中，这些病例中存在的

Problems are especially common among those who do heavy or frequent manual handling and lifting tasks, whether in manufacturing, construction, meatpacking or nursing care.

问题是类似的，特别是那些做沉重的或频繁的手工操作和吊装任务的人中。

 But repetitive strain injuries are perhaps most infamously associated with computer use.

但是，重复性应变受伤往往与使用电脑有关。 Widespread media coverage in the late 1980s and early ’90s described an emerging plague of wrist pain from carpal tunnel syndrome in computer keyboard operators, writers and other office workers.

媒体在80年代后期和90年代初广泛报道了一个新发生在计算机操作员，作家和其他办公室工作人员的手腕疼痛病症。

人们Skepticism arose over whether tapping on a keyboard, or other more forceful repetitive motions, could result in so much discomfort and disability.

怀疑是否由于敲击键盘，或其他更应力性重复动作，才造成如此多的不适和残疾。

In the years since, researchers have established that exerting the hands, arms or shoulders in tasks that require high levels of force, many repetitions, awkward postures or high amounts of vibration increases the risk of musculoskeletal disorders.

在这些年里，研究人员已经确定，在工作是运用手，胳膊或肩膀，需要高水平的力量，许多重复性，不健康性姿势，或过量的按摩增加了肌肉骨骼患疾的风险。

But research in the last decade has established that carpal tunnel syndrome is “not as common in computer users as people have believed — in the absence of good evidence — that it was,” said Dr. Fredric E. Gerr, an occupational medicine physician and ergonomics investigator at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

但是，在过去十年研究已经确定，腕管综合症“如果没有很好的证据证明，不像人们相信的那样，和计算机用户一样相同”弗雷德里克.格尔说，弗雷德里克.格尔是一个职业医师，同时也是爱荷华市艾奥瓦大学人体工程学研究员。

 And whether typing actually causes that disorder remains controversial, with some recent studies calling into question any significant connection.

打字是否是造成疾患的原因仍然是有争议的，一些最近的研究就对作任何之间的重大联系提出了质疑。

Nonetheless, he added, “The epidemiological evidence is overwhelming that the more people type, the more pain they have.”

不过，他补充说， “流行病学证据是压倒性的，人们敲击得越多，他们的痛苦就越多。 ”

Neck and shoulder pain is the most common upper-extremity musculoskeletal problem among computer users.

颈部和肩部疼痛是计算机用户中最常见的上下肢肌肉骨骼问题。

In a 2002 study tracking 632 computer users newly hired at major Atlanta companies, Dr. Gerr and colleagues observed that roughly 60 percent developed neck or shoulder pain in the first year, though the study did not track how long symptoms persisted.

在2002年的一份研究中，跟踪研究632名新雇用的亚特兰大公司电脑使用者， 格尔博士及其同事发现，大约百分之六十的人颈部或肩部疼痛发生在头一年，尽管这项研究并没有跟踪症状会持续多久。

About 40 percent reported hand or arm symptoms, mostly from tendinitis.

约有百分之四十出现手或手臂的症状，其中大部分来自肌腱炎。

 Only 1 percent developed carpal tunnel syndrome.

只有百分之一会导致腕管综合症。

生活Younger generations growing up in the digital age are likewise joining the ranks of the typing wounded.

生活生龙活虎在数字时代的年轻一代也同样加入了打字损伤的行列。

Surveys at two universities found that 40 to 50 percent of undergraduates experience upper-extremity pain from using their computers.

在两所大学调查发现， 40%至50%的大学生经历因使用电脑而导致的上下肢疼痛。

Colleges do not build dormitory furniture to be ergonomically adjustable, said Dr. Benjamin Amick, scientific director of the Institute for Work and Health in Toronto, who was a co-author of those studies.

高校没有建立可调节的符合人体工程学的宿舍家具，多伦多工作与健康科学研究所主任，研究发起人本杰明•阿米克博士说。

“They build it to be indestructible.”

“他们的研究是坚不可摧的。 ”

In the business sector, many companies have made significant ergonomic improvements to the work environment, particularly in office and manufacturing settings, experts said.

在商业部门，许多公司改善符合人体工程学的工作环境方面都取得了显着提高，特别是办公室和制造业的环境，专家说。

The idea is to minimize the stresses on hands, arms and shoulders.

改善环境的想法是尽量减轻对手，胳膊和肩膀的压力。

For instance, in offices since the ’90s, thick keyboards with stiff keys have given way to thinner, softer-touch versions.

例如， 90年代以来，办公用的厚且硬键盘键已经被给薄而软触摸版本所取代。

More attention is also paid to proper positioning of the keyboard, monitor and chair and to alternative types of computer mice.

更加重视对键盘，显示器和椅子等位置的摆放，及其他类型的计算机鼠标的选择。

And in some automobile manufacturing plants, companies have modified assembly-line equipment to take some of the physical load off workers, along with making changes to rotate employees along the line.

在一些汽车制造工厂，公司已修改了组装线设备，以减少了需要体力负荷的岗位，同时让员工轮流工作。

华盛顿州劳动部安全及健康评估和预防的研究计划研究总监芭芭拉弗斯坦说：

“Employers are “recognizing that you need variety in the motions that you do, rather than constantly using the same exact muscles and nerves and tendons,” said Barbara Silverstein, research director at the Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention program of the Washington State labor department.

雇主们逐渐认识到你需要有各种不同的动作，而不是不断地使用相同的肌肉和神经和肌腱”。

Such changes often pay off.

这种改变往往是有回报。在即将出版的，1998年， 2001年和2003年的总共超过5000家华盛顿受访公司的调查

In a soon-to-be published analysis of data from more than 5,000 Washington companies surveyed in 1998, 2001 and 2003, Dr. Silverstein found that businesses that reported implementing ergonomic measures also saw a decrease in musculoskeletal injuries and absenteeism rates.

数据分析中，博士西尔弗斯坦发现，企业执行符合人体工程学的措施也减少了肌肉骨骼损伤和旷工率的出现。

In addition, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics , the number of repetitive strain cases per 10,000 full-time workers dropped from a high of 41 in 1994 to 24 in 2001.

此外，根据联邦劳工统计局统计，重复性损伤病例数据显示，每万名全职员工得重复性损伤从1994年的41例下降到2001年的24例。

(The agency has stopped tracking data in this category of “repeated trauma” disorders.) However, some researchers say that the data is unreliable and undercounts all occupational injuries and illnesses, because of problems with underreporting and with changes in recordkeeping requirements.

（该机构已停止跟踪在此类别中的“重复创伤”数据。）然而，一些研究人员认为，由于低估和记录需求量的变化，这些数据是不可靠并肯少算了所有职业伤害和病痛量。

Meanwhile, scientists are seeking to build a base of rigorous evidence for ergonomic prevention strategies to convince skeptics of their value.

与此同时，科学家们正在寻求建立一个严格的证据基础，符合人体工程学的预防战略价值，以说服持怀疑态度者。

But so far, reviews of the research have turned up limited or conflicting proof of positive benefits from such measures as stretching exercises or various workstation adjustments for computer users.

但迄今为止，研究已出现有限或相互矛盾的证据的积极效益等措施，伸展运动或各种工作站调整的计算机用户。

大卫任安培博士，加州大学柏克莱分校人体工程研究人员说

A major difficulty is that although many studies have demonstrated ergonomic measures to be helpful, few have been the kind of large, high-quality randomized controlled trials that provide clear-cut answers, said Dr. David Rempel, an ergonomics researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.

一个主要的困难是，虽然许多研究表明人体工程学的措施是有益的，但很少有这样的大型，高品质的随机对照试验，提供明确的答案。

Such trials are costly and complex to design well for workplace settings, he explained, and federal financing for workplace safety studies is scarce.

他解释说，这种试验要为工作场所设计良好的环境，成本是昂贵并非常复杂。而且，联邦资助工作场所的安全性研究很少。

“A lot of us are banging our heads against that wall now,” Dr. Gerr said of the challenge of ascertaining which interventions work..

“我们很多人都对此感到很苦恼， ”格尔博士说，确定哪些干预工作很有挑战性

In the absence of definitive evidence, clinicians continue to exercise their best judgment in finding good solutions for their patients.

在没有确切证据，临床医生只能继续根据判断为他们的病人找到良好的解决方案。