Occupational and physical therapy for work-related upper extremity disorders: how we can influence outcomes

Upper extremity disorders in the workplace continue to be an economic strain on society. Physical and occupational therapy plays a crucial role in the management of the disorders. Medical providers should use therapists whose treatments demonstrate improvement in function and provide superior outcomes. Skilled therapy intervention requires that a therapist be able to identify and treat an injured worker in a holistic manner by looking at the whole individual, including issues that involve mechanical dysfunctions, psychosocial issues that include job satisfaction, and other age-related organic comorbidities. Therapists who work with injured employees must be highly skilled in identifying behavioral and organic disorders and must be confident in communicating these findings to various members of the health care team to help facilitate further medical testing.