Long hours typing cramping your hands? Neurosurgeon warns you should not ignore it: ‘Could be a neurological disorder…’

If you work long hours on laptop, make sure to break, otherwise continuously typing may give way to nervous/neurological problems.

Digital devices are ubiquitous in workplaces. For convenience and accessibility's sake, most of the work was done on the gizmos. Some of the predominant activities include typing, clicking or scrolling, which put the hands in stressful positions for long periods. Eventually, cramps begin to show up. But these are not solely restricted to musculoskeletal causes. It is not just a muscle cramp!

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To understand the unconventional origins of hand cramps, HT Lifestyle spoke to Dr Manish Baldia, consultant functional neurosurgeon at Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central, who disclosed that it can be traced back to neurological causes. It may sound peculiar, but it's not surprising, as the nerves in your hands all go back to the brain and central nervous system.

The neurosurgeon named the issue: dystonia, which is a neurological movement/ nervous system. “Writer’s Cramp can easily be confused or attributed to a strain or overuse of the hand, but it can actually be a neurological disorder of movement, known more precisely as task-specific focal dystonia,” he explained.

Long hours of typing can make your hands cramp up. (Picture credit: Freepik)

What is dystonia?

When you are working, for the longest time, you engage in repetitive hand movements: typing, clicking, scrolling. So, because of this, nerve-related difficulties begin to show up.

The neurosurgeon mentioned repetitive activities as the culprit. “Although the hand remains strong and healthy, forming normally, it’s essentially a problem of nerve impulses forming abnormally, which can affect any action requiring repetition, like writing, typing, or clicking a computer mouse.”

Dystonia is a nervous disorder which happens after doing long hours of repetitive activities. (Picture credit: Freepik )

Problems noticed

Dr Baldia identified certain complications: spasmodic cramps of their fingers, accompanied by a lack of grip strength. Sometimes these signs go unnoticed, or they are attributed to work stress.

The neurosurgeon shared one of his clinical experiences: “I recently treated a 28-year-old software engineer who had struggled with this condition for nearly eight years."

The patient struggled with basic motor skills despite the grip strength being normal. “Despite normal hand strength, even holding a pen or using a mouse would trigger uncontrollable finger tightening,” he remarked.

But finally, temporary relief was achieved, as per the doctor, only after medications, physiotherapy, and botulinum toxin injections. Since the relief was only temporary, Dr Baldia believed that only advanced functional neurosurgery could be considered as a viable treatment option.

Key takeaways: Avoid long periods of repetitive activities as they put the hands/wrist/fingers in awkward, abnormal positions for prolonged times. Since it has the potential to be severe with the only viable treatment being advanced surgery and medication only for temporary relief, taking occassional break and averting repeating activities prevents matters from escalating for the worse.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.