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Professional contracture

Often monotonous professional movements that overload the joint and periarticular tissues lead to contracture, which limits movements in the joint (flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, rotation). In fact, professional contracture occurs when any of the tissues surrounding the joint is injured, exceeding the natural recovery capabilities of this type of tissue. At the moment of injury, one type of tissue is affected, but then other types of tissue that form movements in the joint (muscle tissue, nervous tissue, connective tissue) may be affected.

Professional contracture may develop as a result of a burn (chronic or one-time), a deep cut or crushing of tissue near the joint, a rupture or tear of the articular tendon, or an injury to nerve fibers in the joint area. The cause of professional contracture may be a long-term or regular incorrect position of the joint (for example, rotation of the finger, hand, elbow, knee, ankle). Professional contracture may also develop as a result of an inflammatory process in a chronic professional injury.

The main sign of the occurrence of professional contracture is felt by a person as a painful symptom when moving in the affected joint. This is a signal for treatment.

To restore joint function due to the development of professional contracture, conservative or surgical treatment is required.

It is possible to treat professional contracture with conservative methods only in the case of minor damage to the joint tissues, which will eventually return to normal under the influence of thermal procedures, electrophoresis treatment, massage procedures and gymnastics.

Thermal procedures are carried out using warm and hot baths, as well as paraffin baths. Self-massage of the joint damaged by contracture and periarticular tissues can be performed. Light massage movements are gradually replaced by intensive massage movements. Gymnastics is based on the use of elastic traction of varying degrees of load on the joint.

The peculiarity of conservative treatment of professional contractures is based on the development of the affected joint with varying degrees of load, which gradually increases. In addition, in order to avoid aggravation of the joint condition with professional contracture, it is necessary to change the usual loads on the joint, the usual movements in the joint, diversify them so as not to repeat previous movements, allowing the joint to recover.

Surgical treatment of professional contractures is resorted to when the possibilities of natural methods of restoring joint movements are missed. This usually happens with old contractures that a person has not dealt with or paid attention to conservative treatment methods. Surgical treatment of professional contractures, depending on the damage to a certain type of tissue, is based on plastic surgery of the affected areas of tissue, on the implantation of a special material that restores or replaces the affected areas of tissue, on the intersection of certain nerve fibers when their restoration is impossible.

The prognosis for recovery in the development of professional contractures depends on the desire of the person to undergo regular rehabilitation procedures and consent to complex treatment (conservative and surgical) if it is impossible to restore movement in the joint using only conservative methods.