Since April of 1992 I’ve been working on-site for Starkey Laboratories, Inc. I provide soft-tissue work, a combination of both release and organization, for people who have repetitive-motion problems, particularly of the hands, wrists, and arms.

Starkey is the largest manufacturer of custom hearing aids in the U.S. (I’m told they provided a hearing aid for the Pope.) Their headquarters are here in Minneapolis, and they have subsidiary facilities around the U.S and also in Europe and the Pacific Basin. There are a variety of jobs in this industry that produce cumulative trauma disorders. The actual assembly of the hearing aids is close work, done under a microscope, and pieces are small, requiring tight gripping or pinching movements. Production of the hearing aid cases involves the use of drills and electric grinders that can produce vibration trauma. There are also data-entry and computer jobs that can cause hand problems.

Larry Miller, the Director of Human Resources for Starkey, is a big fan of Rolfing. His responsibilities include design and administration of health and safety policies, insurance (Starkey is self-insured) and workers’ compensation. He made Rolfing a covered expense in the company’s insurance plan. He is also a client of mine.

During a session last spring he said, “I bet Rolfing could really help people with carpal tunnel syndrome, but I guess a lot of people wouldn’t want to commit to the whole series of Rolfing.” I said, “Well, actually, carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the things I feel comfortable working with outside of the series.” “Really?!” he said, and wheels began to turn.

Larry had already been working with some unusual approaches to reducing job-related injury at the Minneapolis facility, including bringing in consultants to develop an exercise program to minimize fatigue at work, providing ergonomic chairs and other work-station supports, etc. His intentis to reduce the incidence of injury, cut the costs to the company in worker compensation, and build employee morale. From his own experience of Rolfing, he thought I could contribute on all three counts. He proposed a program where I could work with people on-site, as a voluntary option for people with hand and arm pain.

Obviously, such an unusual project had to have the support of management and supervisors. I made two visits to the Starkey facility to meet with various people, talk about and demonstrate what I’d be doing. It was a process in educating people as to what repetitive-motion problems were, how they actually affected the hands and arms, and how they could be lessened or prevented. It was an education for me, too, both in brushing up on this material and in seeing this kind of business in operation. By my third visit, I was seeing employees who had reported hand or arm pain or numbness. Some had already consulted physicians for their condition, and some had not. In all cases, people were given a little background on Rolfing and told, “This is just something you can try if you want to.”

I now go to Starkey about every two weeks, and spend the day doing mini-sessions. There are a few people I see on a regular basis, and there are generally a couple of new people. Generally they have hand, wrist or arm complaints, and we work about half an hour. As in any small community, the grapevine works best for identifying people who have problems and might benefit from the work. All the results so far are by anecdote, not by measurement, but they are positive: reduction in pain, more mobility, less fatigue. Given the nature of the work that these people are doing, I’m not sure a cure for their problems can ever be given, but they are generally able to work better and with less discomfort, and they have the added assurance of knowing they can continue to get help. I have to add that at least two people who had… been advised to have hand surgery are so much better that they have not scheduleds urgency. Larry Miller feels that, with the results that are reported, there is direct evidence of savings to Starkey in the areas of health insurance and compensation.

Starkey employees and management are satisfied enough with the results of the last eight months that we will be expanding the program within the facility and within the company as a whole. We’ll shortly be initiating a program in which all new workers will see me at the end of their 90-day training period. It will be an opportunity then to discuss any problems they’re having and to review with them some preventive and ergonomic principles. It will also let them know that there is help on-site if they begin to develop some problems. I hope that with early intervention, the effects of repetitive stress won’t accumulate to the point of damage and disability.

Similar programs will be initiated at other Starkey facilities through out this year. Since Rolfing is a benefit of Starkey’s health plan, some workers are already familiar with it. In Austin, Texas, particularly, Steve Collins has Rolfed about 15% of the employees. However, because we’re trying to incorporate Rolfers into a national program for the company, I ask that individual Rolfers not solicit Starkey facilities for private clients at this time. If you are interested in participating in the onsite program, though, please contact me. We’ll be looking for help in Miami, Florida; San Diego, California; and Portland, Oregon, sometime during the next year.

What excites me most about this development in my work is the prospect of demonstrating the usefulness ness of refined soft-tissue work for chronic complaints, and that Rolfers, specifically, are being used. That the business itself has solicited Rolfers and is paying for the project gives it, I think, greater credibility. It seems that for a long time we strove to get the medical world to “recognize” Rolfing. I believe the world has changed,/ and the acceptance of the business world carries s more weight with the general public. If it turns out that Rolfing, or soft-tissue work done by Rolfers, lowers insurance costs, more segments of our society will sit up and listen.

I’ll try to keep you all posted about developments in this area. Please call me if you have any comments or questions.