Applied Ergon~.mics 1982, 13.

4, 251-258

The effect of vibration on the

skeleton, joints and muscles
A review of the literature
S. Carlsi~8
Technical Work Physiology Section, National Board of Occupational Safety and Health, Stockholm, Sweden

Owing to the elasticity and plasticity of the skeleton, joints and muscles, the musculoskeletal
system is capable of absorbing and damping mechanical vibration without damage as long
as the vibration level is within tolerable limits. However, technical developments have led to
the exposure of many people to intolerable variation levels with destructive changes as a
resu It.
These injuries to the musculoskeletal system continue to be the subject of research interest.
Initially, the joints and joint complaints attracted the greatest attention. Vibration
damping takes place mainly in the joints. The incidence of destructive joint changes has been
examined in comprehensive clinical, epidemiological and radiographic studies, mainly
concentrating on the joints of the hand and arm. The response of muscles to vibration is
often expressed in the form of a tonic vibration reflex (TVR) which arises as a result of
stimulation of the muscle spindles and therefore resembles the classic tonic stretch reflex.
There is increased muscular activation for stabilisation of the joint positions, especially
during whole-body vibration. Studies have also disclosed how vibration affects body
equilibrium and equilibrium control and how vibration can elicit muscle pain, cramps and
reduced muscular strength.

Keywords: Vibration, skeletal system, muscles

I ntroduction

The human locomotor system - ie, the skeleton, joints

and muscles - is designed to be capable (up to a point) of
withstanding, damping and absorbing the mechanical energy
generated by impacts, jolts and vibration without sustaining
damage. The S-shaped spinal column with shock-absorbing
intervertebral discs of cartilage, the arched shape of the
foot, the design and fit of the cranial bones, the external
shape of the femur and pelvis and the trabecular system
within these bones are examples of elastically deformable
skeletal designs.
The structure and habitual position of the joints and
joint surfaces sheathed in articular cartilage also contribute
considerably to the body's ability to absorb jolting and
vibration. Ligaments and tendons contain collagenous fibres

The substance of this review was published as "Vibrationers

inverkan p~ skelett, led och muskier", by Sven Carls~SIS.
Arbete och h~lsa 1980:15. Swedish National Board of
Occupational Safety and Health.

which contribute to the attenuation of tensional stress

when the wavy shape of the fibres will be stretched out in
response to the load. Muscle fibres themselves are not only
capable of contraction. They are also elastic to some extent
and therefore capable of actively and passively damping the
tensional stresses generated by vibration and jolting.
The evidence suggests that the elasticity of the locomotor
system is sufficient to absorb and attenuate the jolts and
vibration generated during natural locomotion movement
and movements made utilising the body's own muscular
strength. But during both work and leisure, modern man is
now being exposed to jolts and vibration which are scarcely
'natural' from the biological point of view and to which
the body has not yet become adapted.
Vibration of the entire body or part(s) thereof occur in
the work environment. The mechanical equipment operated
by professional drivers, equipment such as buses, tractors,
combine harvesters, etc, expose operators sitting on a
vibrating seat to whole-body vibration. However, the load
from vibrating handtools, such as chain saws, hammers and
bolt guns, is essentially concentrated on the hands and arms.

0003-6870/82/04 0251-08 $03.00 ~) 1982 Butterworth & Co (Publishers)Ltd

Applied Ergonomics December 1982

251

Sinusoidal oscillations and stochastic jolting in working

life affect organs and organ systems in such a way as to
give rise to what we now can describe as vibration damage
and vibration stress, even if we are still unable to identify
the tissues primarily damaged by vibration, or identify
reliably the factors which give rise to the various injuries.
The hypotheses proposed for causal relationships in cases of
vibration damage have generally dealt with circulatory
derangement. But effects on the locomotor system and on
the central nervous system are becoming the subjects of
increasing scientific interest.
The effects of both whole-body and segmental vibration
are governed by a number of factors of which frequency,
amplitude, exposure duration, vibration direction and the
size of the body area in contact with the vibration source
are the most important. No special vibration sense has yet
been discovered in man, and the perception of vibration
varies in a complicated way with the aforementioned factors.
The effects of vibration are of both short and long
duration. They are manifested in the form of subjective
complaints and as objectively measurable phenomena which
may, of course, occur simultaneously. Thus, brief episodes
of numbness and pain can be accompanied by fatigue and
nausea. However, vibration effects may also occur in the
form of threshold changes in sensitivity and impairment of
movement precision.

Work with vibrating handtools also gives rise to heavy

physical loading because the tools are heavy and work
positions often awkward. Long exposure may cause bone
and joint damage, in particular some changes at the joints
themselves, accompanied by severe subjective symptoms.
Thus, the effects of vibration may be exerted
simultaneously on different organs and organ systems of the
body, but the emphasis in the following review will be on
the effect of vibration on joints, ligaments and muscles. This
effect will be elucidated by accounts of subjective
complaints, radiographic studies, electromyographic records
and animal experiments undertaken to verify hypotheses.

Skeletal and joint changes

The most frequently identified skeletal and joint changes
believed to be the result of vibration are undoubtedly
changes in the carpus and carpal joints. Radiographic studies
have disclosed pathological changes in both the lower
radio-ulnar joint and in the joints between the wrist-bones,
and in particular the radio-carpal joint (Fig. 1). The joint
damage often encountered in people exposed in their work
to protracted vibration did not greatly differ from the
degenerative and senile changes found in people not
exposed to vibration. However, studies including control
groups have shown that vibration and jolting may elicit
joint damage, or at least accelerate and accentuate the
degenerative changes normally occurring in most people.
For example, vocational groups working with or without
vibrating handtools have been compared.
Horvath and Kakosy (1979) studied 978 forestry
workers exposed for years to vibration from chain saws and
compared them with a control group of 750 people; 45% of
the forestry workers displayed radiographic changes
characteristic of arthrosis in the distal radio-ulnar joint but
only 13% of the people in the control group. The joint
surfaces were deformed as a result of osteophyte formations,

252

Applied Ergonomics

December 1982

8
9

Fig. 1

II
I0

Dorsal, outer, aspect of bones of the right hand

and the lower ends of the two bones of the forearm.
1 - 8 the wrist bones of which 3 is scaphoid,
8 lunate and 7 triquetrum, 9 radius, 10 ulna and
11 styloid process.
The triangular articular disc fills up the space
between ulna and lunate.
The lower ends of radius and ulna are connected
with each other by a joint called the lower or
inferior radio-ulnar joint.
The row of the three wrist bones scaphoid, lunate
and triquetrum articulate with the radius and the
articular disc to form the radio-carpal joint or
wrist joint.

displaying an irregular, frequently sclerotic structure and a

narrowed joint space owing to cartilage changes. Cystiform
rarefaction was found in subchondral bony tissue. The
distal end of the ulna was also frequently deformed through
hypertrophy of the styloid process of the ulna. In a few
cases, calcified deposits were encountered in the articular
disc. The authors found that the incidence of arthroses was
significantly correlated to both exposure duration and
subject age. Similar effects have been found in some manual
workers, and hence the phenomenon is not peculiar to
vibration stress.

Suzuki et al (1978) also found that these pathological

changes were common in the distal radio-ulnar joint of the
670 forestry workers participating in their study. Like
Btlrkle de la Camp (1959) previously, they found that
work with pneumatic tools also caused changes in the
carpus and carpal joints, especially in the scaphoid and
lunate bones. As a result of its shape and location, the
scaphoid is constantly exposed to recurrent, minor
torsional movements which lead to hairline stress fractures
with attendant pseudoarthroses reminiscent of 'march
fractures' of metatarsal bones. In the case of the scaphoid,
vibration acts more along the long axis of the bone and
does not cause any true movement of the bone. But it may
produce cracks in the bone, leading in severe cases to the
bone's disintegration and necrosis. Similar changes in the
carpus have been reported by Schneider (1972) in miners
from the Bochum area of West Germany. He described the
damage as one of the symptoms of the occupational
disorder he calls 'Pressluft-Erkrankung'.
Kumtin et al (1973) made a radiographic comparison of
forestry workers who had operated a chain saw for years
and an equally large control group with the same age
distribution. The most striking radiographic finding was that
20% of the forestry workers displayed vacuoles ( 4 - 6 mm in
diameter) in the carpal bones near the joint surfaces. No
such vacuoles were seen in the control group but small cysts
(2-3 mm in diameter) were observed in the central part of
the carpal bones. The vacuoles were surrounded by a zone
of sclerotic tissue. The authors felt that the vacuoles were
the result of long exposure and primarily caused by vascular
damage, vasoconstriction and obliteration.
Arthrosis changes, believed to be a consequence of work
with compressed air tools, have also been found in and around
the elbow joint and the acromioclavicular joint. However,
these joint changes did not represent damage specific to
vibration work. They are also found, albeit to a lesser
extent, in people not exposed to vibration.
Biirkle de la Camp (1959) was unable to discover any
spinal changes caused by vibration and jolting, but Freund
and Dupuis (1974) felt that there was a correlation between
pathological changes in the spinal column and mechanical
vibration. When a person in a standing position is exposed
to whole,body vibration, he/she parries or at least
subconsciously attempts to parry the jolts by means of
minor movements of the feet, knees and hips. These options
are greatly reduced for people in a sitting position. The
body's response then is generally to stiffen the joints. 71% of
the tractor drivers and 80% of the truck drivers studied had
pathological changes in their spines. But the changes were
found in only 43% of factory workers and 29% of artisans.
In the view of the authors, this shows that normal
degenerative changes in the spine become more pronounced
and make their debut several years earlier in groups
exposed daily to protracted vibration.

higher than the animals' resonance frequency). The

amplitude was either 1.25 or 0.8 mm. The acceleration was
1 g which, in combination with gravity, results in acceleration
ranging from 2 g to 0 g. Exposure duration was 2 h twice
per day for some of the animals and 12 h daily for other
animals over a period of from 35 to 180 days. The animals
were placed on a vibrating plate. Their paws were in
unrestricted contact with the plate but their trunks were
kept relatively stationary. This resulted in constant leg
flexion and extension.
No macroscopic changes were found in the vibrated
animals. The shape, length and weight of their bones did
not differ from parameters for the bones of rats not
exposed to vibration. In other words, vibration here did
not stunt normal growth. However, vibration did affect
bone elasticity. This characteristic declined more than
expected for the period of time in question. The longer
the exposure, the greater the loss of elasticity. This was
because of the vibration-induced changes in the organisation
of mineralisation. The trabeculae of the vibrated animals
were not concentrically arrayed around the medullary
cavity or parallel to the surface of the bone, as is normally
the case, but dispersed and disorganised.
The response of bone tissue to jolts appears to be
decisive to the joint damage arising as a consequence of
vibration. In joints, cartilage provides elastic sheathing of
bone ends (Fig. 2). This cartilage consists of cells dispersed
in an intercellular substance which, in turn, consists of
collagenous fibrils in an amorphous ground substance
(mucopolysaccharides, a protein and carbohydrate
compound). This intercellular substance contains a system
of interstitial channels, microscopically small channels to be
sure but large enough for the passage of fluid through the
matrix. This fluid (synovia) is a highly viscous lubricant
coating joint surfaces. It plays an important role in the
ability of cartilage to withstand stress. In joint movements,
the cartilage is exposed to cycles of compression and
relaxation. When the joint is loaded, fluid pressure in the
most superficial layers is the same as in the joint space but
lower than in the deeper intertrabecular cavities. So fluid
forces its way up from deep layers of cartilage to more
superficial layers, and some of it is then expressed out of the
cartilage. This flow of fluid from different parts of cartilage

I
2
5

Laboratory experiments on animals, common practice

in medical research, were conducted in order to obtain more
reliable data on the response of the skeleton and joints to
vibration and in order to test prevailing hypotheses and
theories.
At the aeronautical laboratory in Kentucky, USA,
Jankovich (1971, 1972) studied the way in which vibration
affected the growth of the femur, tibia and fibula of young
rats. The vibration frequency was 20 to 25 Hz (frequencies

Fig. 2

A schematic view of a joint.

1. Spongy bone

2. Subchondral bone
3. Articular cartilage

Applied Ergonomics

December 1982

253

absorbs some of the stress to which the cartilage is exposed

during loading. The force which is then transmitted to
underlying bone is therefore less than if there were no
layer of cartilage. This is what normally happens in moving
joints.
But what happens in the case of vibration? No
exhaustive answer to this question is a as yet available.
However, Radin et al (1973) at Cambridge University in
Massachusetts (USA) have made a number of valuable
observations in a series of studies conducted in the 1960s
and 1970s. The studies were performed on the knee joints
of adult rabbits. For one hour each day the animals were
exposed to periodic, recurrent jolts at a frequency of
1 jolt/s. The magnitude of the load was identical to each
animal's weight, a load which must be regarded as a
relatively light and physiologically tolerable load under
normal conditions. It should be remembered by way of
comparison that the knee in man is exposed to twice the
body weight at each step in walling and 3 times body
weight during running.
The changes scientists found in rabbit knee joints were
about the same as are found in degenerated joints of man.
After four days, there was exudation of joint fluid, six
days later there was increased stiffness in the subchondral
bone, ie, the bone immediately under the cartilage layer,
16 days later there was a loss of mucopolysaccharide through
the surface layer and 28 days later this loss was very
pronounced even from deeper layers.
The destruction of cartilage tissue was thus preceded by
changes in underlaying bony tissue. Numerous healed
microscopic fractures in the trabeculae plus increased
stiffness were the pathological changes found in subchondral
bone. Similar microfractures have also been found in man.
The studies suggest that joint degeneration may very
well be a natural consequence of repetitive jolts, even when
these jolts, from the force point of view, are within
physiologically tolerable limits. Conditions such as these
are undoubtedly found in work with compressed air-driven
tools and among technicians who work for years on slowly
vibrating platforms. The fact that not everyone with heavy
work ultimately develops joint disorders suggests that the
manner in which a load strikes a joint, rather than the
magnitude of the total load, is the decisive factor. In the
studies cited, the load always acted on the same part of
the joint.
The view that spongy bone has shock-absorbing properties
is not new. This was widely held even in the last century.
Since this property does not appear to be .related to the
viscous flow of blood and fat in the canals and canaliculi of
bone tissue, an alternative explanation may be a limited
number of trabecular microfractures. A certain number of
these fractures appears to be physiologically tolerable.
Since the metabolism in spongy bone is high, it is possible
that there may be some measure of physiological equilibrium
between fracture formation and fracture healing. But any
such equilibrium is obviously susceptible to disruption.
The first tissue formed after a fracture, ie, callus, is
stiffer and less dense than the bone in trabeculae, and the
greater the number of microfractures, the greater the
predominance of callus tissue. This also results in a decline
in the intertrabecular cavities. Since cartilage obtains its
nourishment and oxygen from bone marrow in medullar
cavities, the supply of nutrients to cartilage could therefore

254

Applied Ergonomics

December 1982

be impaired. This would, in turn, accelerate cartilage

destruction.
Studies support the hypothesis that cartilage degeneration
is correlated to and ensues after an increase in the relative
stiffness and density of underlying shock-absorbing
subchondral bone and that this stiffness is a consequence
of healed micro-fractures having arisen as a result of
repeated loading. Studies of autopsy materials from patients
having previously displayed signs of joint degeneration
have disclosed the same changes in the subchondral bone.

Muscle responses
Rood (1860)was the first person to describe the effect
of vibration on human muscle. He designed a handle which
could be made to vibrate at frequencies up to 60 Hz with
an amplitude of around 6 ram. He found that vibration was
accompanied by involuntary contractions in the hand and
arms so severe that subjects had difficulty releasing their
grip.
Subsequent research has also confirmed that the grip on
a handle does increase in intensity when the handle starts
vibrating. F/irkkil/i et al (1979) studied 89 forestry workers
with years of experience of operating chain saws. A strain
gauge was built into the handle of a test saw ( a Partner R 22)
for measurement of grip force. The gripping force of the hands
increased about 5 - 9 N during actual sawing compared with
the force used during breaks when the engine was idling.
It should be noted that people previously troubled by 'white
fingers' grasped the chain saw handle harder in relation to
their maximal gripping force while sawing than subjects
with no such complaint. The difference was statistically
confirmed.
Iwata et al (1972) studied the response of the biceps
brachii muscle to vibration when subjects held on to a
vibrating handtool. When a weak grip force was applied to
the handle, muscle activity declined as the vibration
frequency rose from 6-3 to 100 Hz. When the grip on the
handle was harder, eg, 25% or 50% of maximal gripping
strength, a sharp increase in activity was obtained at
vibration frequencies of 10'Hz and at 50 Hz. The rise in
activity level at the 10 Hz frequency was probably due to
heightened demands for stabilisation of the arm within its
resonance range (10-16 Hz according to various authors).
It is more difficult to explain the rise in activity at 50 Hz.
It may have been due to the natural resonance of certain
muscle fibres or because certain nervous impulses, whose
frequency is around 50 Hz during a powerful contraction of
the biceps, are amplified during vibration at the same
frequency. An extremely tight grip on the handle elicited
great activity in the biceps but activity which was only
slightly influenced by vibration.
The degree of activity in the muscles of the arms is not
governed solely by the magnitude of the force with which
the vibrating tool is held. The arm's position is also
important. Dupuis et al (1976) and others have shown that
the position of the elbow affects the response of arm muscles
to imposed vibration. They found that activity was greater
in the three muscles studied (the biceps and triceps brachii
and the flexor carpi ulnaris) when the elbow angle was 60
or 180 than when at 90 , 120 or 150 . The force with
which subjects held the handle supplying the vibration was
consistently 40% of maximal gripping force. Of the three
muscles, the triceps displayed the greatest reaction; the

flexor carpi,ulnaris displayed the weakest response to

vibration.
The effect of vibration on muscle is governed by the
muscle's degree of stretch. The more a muscle is stretched,
the greater its sensitivity to vibration. This is because the
sensitivity of the muscle spindles increases with the degree
of stretch. The stretching to which muscles are exposed
during vibration and jolting stimulates the muscle spindles,
whose adequate stimulus is a stretching, into discharging
impulses causing reflexive contraction in the muscle.
As early as 1938, Echlin and Fessard found that the
muscle spindles of animals in their study were affected by
vibration at frequencies from 7 to 32 Hz. Lance (1965)
showed that the quadriceps contracted and the knee
extended, in a manner similar to the pattern in the patellar
reflex, when a vibrating instrument was placed on the
muscle. Eklund and Hagbarth (1966) disclosed that
vibration also had a strongly stimulatory.effect on human
muscle spindles. They found that the flow of impulses from
the stretch receptors increased as the amplitude increased up
to 2 mm and the frequency increased up to 200 Hz. The
more the muscle was stretched, the greater the effect of the
vibration. As soon as the vibration ceased, the flow of
impulses and the muscle contraction also ceased.
Contractions triggered by stimulation of a muscle's spindles
by vibration are referred to as 'tonic vibration reflexes'.
Even when the reflex ceased when the vibration ceased, there
was an after-effect in the form of more rapid muscle
tensioning when vibration was repeated 10-15 s later.
These muscular responses to vibration were more intense
when the muscle was cold. On the other hand, vibration
reflexes were depressed when the muscle was warm or the
subject had taken barbiturates.
Granit and Henatsch (1956) and Brown, Engberg and
Matthews (1967) found that it is the primary annulospiral
endings which are stimulated by vibration whereas the
secondary flower spray endings are less sensitive to vibration.
This may be the reason why a muscle activated by vibration
does not respond to a phasic extension reflex, such as a
knee-jerk reflex. Vibration stimulation may involve the
primary annulospiral endings to such a degree that additional
stimulation has no effect. Flexion reflexes are also
suppressed by vibration. In practical terms, this could mean
that the protective reflexes in the muscles of the lower leg,
which normally protect the ankle from twisting or
ligament rupture, might not be triggered in, for example, a
person working on a vibrating platform who stumbles.

Equilibrium and movement control

Eklund (1972) found that body equilibrium is disturbed
by bilateral vibration of certain leg and trunk muscles. The
vibration-induced afference from these muscles tended to
derange equilibrium, not only because of local changes in
the tension of stimulated muscles but also as the result of
action on the supraspinal structures important to equilibrium.
Even here, stimulation of the muscle spindles by vibration is
the cause of this interference in equilibrium. But here it is
presumably a question of stimulation of the secondary
flower spray endings rather than of the primary annulospiral
endings. Authors such as Ischikawa et al (1972) have shown
that impulses triggered by vibration are conducted up to
supraspinal centres which are as important to equilibrium as
the cerebellum.

However, the vibration of calf muscles at a frequency of

150 Hz and an amplitude of 1-8 mm (vibration amplitudes
of 0.5 to 1 mm have been shown to elicit the same response)
caused all the subjects to sway backwards around t h e .
transverse axis of the ankle. The sway was so great that
many subjects were forced to take a step backwards to keep
from falling. When the subjects were aware of this effect,
they could force themselves to remain in place during the
vibration. This voluntary response was always accompanied
by increased, dynamic muscular activity suggesting a certain
measure of instability. When vibration ceased suddenly,
there was always a tendency for subjects to tip forward.
Vibration of the pretibial, hamstring and erector spinae
muscles induced forward tipping of the body. To keep from
falling forward, subjects moved or leaned back. However,
vibration of the quadriceps and abdominal muscles had no
effect on equilibrium.
Authors such as Goodwin e t al (1972) and Eklund (1972)
have shown that the vibration-stimulation of muscle affects
the subject's perception of the position and motion of the
joint upon which the muscle acts.
It is normally possible for a blindfolded person to keep
both arms in the same position and perform the same
movements with them at the same time. But when the
biceps muscle of a subject's arm is exposed to vibration, the
precision control is impaired, as was clearly demonstrated
by, for example, Goodwin et al (1972). When blindfolded
subjects were required to place one arm in the same position
as the other vibrating arm, tl~e difference in the position of
the forearms when the elbow joint was flexed could differ
by as much as 40 , even when subjects believed the arms to
be parallel. When the elbow angle of the vibrating arm was,
for example, 100 , the angle of the non-vibrating arm could
amount to 140 .
Eklund (1972) showed how kinesthesia in the lower
extremities is distorted by muscle vibration. Subjects lay on
their backs on a bench with their lower limbs dangling freely
over the edge of the bench. One of the legs was then raised,
traversing a knee angle of from 90 to about 150 , in three
different ways, viz, voluntarily, reflexively (through vibration
of the knee extensor) and assisted (leg lifted by an aide).
10 - 15 s later, each subject had to duplicate the position
of his first leg with his other leg. Coincidence between the
position of the two legs was perfect in the first instance. In
the third instance the second leg was extended more than
the first. In the second instance, ie, reflexive activation with
vibration, the second leg failed to achieve the elevation of
the first leg. This is because a vibrating muscle with a high
level of receptor activity is perceived as being longer (and
the knee bent to a greater angle) than it really is.
In finger movements, in which touch and vision play a
major role in control, muscular movement is only slightly
affected by vibration. However, increased central control is
required to flex a finger (against gravity) when the finger
extensor muscle is vibrated.
When an isometrically contracted muscle is vibrated,
subjects frequently get the feeling that there is some slow
movement in the involved joint, even though the joint is
immobilised. Subjects also imagine that the joint is extended
when there is a vibration-induced isometric contraction of
the elbow flexors.
It is difficult to make a completely accurate assessment
of the magnitude of a movement and of a joint's position in

Applied Ergonomics December 1982

255

the arms and legs. If an isometrically contracted muscle is

exposed to vibration, it is not possible for a person to
respond voluntarily fast enough to compensate fully for the
increase in tension which develops in the muscle at the start
of vibration or to avoid a brief period of over-compensation
when vibration suddenly ceases.
So, human movement control is disturbed by vibration.
Perception of the state of contraction and tension in the
arm and leg muscles is especially distorted.
In a study of certain postural muscles, Bjurvald et al
(1973) found that whole-body vibration elicited a general
increase in activity in the soleus, erector spinae and trapezius
(superior part), muscles active even prior to vibration, when
subjects stood in an upright position. The quadriceps and
hamstring muscles were also activated. Activity in these
latter muscles, as well as in the trapezius, was intermittent
and appeared at a pace which coincided with the vibration
frequency to which subjects were exposed (Fig. 3). With
subjects in an upright sitting position, the trapezius
responded sharply to vertical vibration and the gluteus
medius to lateral vibration (Fig. 4). This activity also
appeared periodically in step with the applied vibration

4/z

5.5

Hz

frequency. A certain amount of activity was al~o seen in the

erector spinae and abdominal muscles during both vertical
and lateral vibration. In whole-body vibration, both tonic
vibration reflexes and more continuous muscle involvement
for stabilisation of the body were found.
In experiments with rats, Hettinger (1956) found that
vibration initially had a stimulating effect on the growth of
muscle fibres and thereby represented a type of transient
strength training. However, protracted vibration had a
completely different effect. Joint pain, muscle pain,
muscle weakness, reduced muscular strength and muscle
cramp are not uncommon symptoms in people working
with pneumatic tools (Stepanek and Kandus, 1970; Lukas
and Kuzel, 1971 ; and F/lrkkil~[, 1978).

Concluding remarks
The vibrations to which people are exposed in various
contexts must surely create medical problems. But the
nature and extent of these problems are in many respects
unknown. Judging by the literature, the problems have
become the subject of medical research only in recent years.
So it is hardly surprising that the results of various
epidemiological studies have differed. That is why it is still
impossible to draw any definite conclusions regarding the
effect of vibration on various tissues and organs.

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E l e c t r o m y o g r a p h i c a l l y recorded muscle activity

during exposure to vertical vibration w i t h subject
in symmetrical sitting position. Acceleration

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This also applies to studies of the response of the skeleton

and joints to vibration. Our joints are always subject to
changes caused by the ageing process. At present, it is
virtually impossible to distinguish these changes degeneration of articular cartilage, areas ofosteoporosis,
bone cysts, vacuoles, etc - from changes induced by
vibrations with any degree of reliability. That vibration does
induce changes is evident from some experimental studies,
but what other factors are present, and apparently absent
for other studies, are not yet clear. Hence, as the mechanisms
through which vibration causes skeletal change are not
defined, protective measures cannot be specific, but are
inevitably broad in nature.
Whether or not the changes found in animal experiments
are pertinent to Man is still the subject of contention. So we
have to admit that our knowledge about the link between
vibration and changes in our joints is still very poor.
Studies of the response of muscles to vibration have
yielded more reliable conclusions. This is because, inter alia,
these studies can be conducted on Man directly. The effects
of vibration on stability, and on grip strength and the
increase in muscle tension, seem to be established. But many
question marks still remain even in this field of research,
such as the important question of limits for the level of
tolerable vibration of different muscles as well as of the
whole locomotor system.

FFT~'I f PI~
]li/

Ii~I,L] [il~d L! ! t~i~l.i I !.;~,I I. ,~J,,I J,l.,

]:r~r' !
r :wr~l"i r
rT'" I,

..,~!..Ji'

l.l/Ij ,,j,
"Y"'!I'T~ I
:i!l/rl

'

Fig. 4

256

:!=

I :s

!;! !

E l e c t r o m y o g r a p h i c a l l y recorded activity in the

gluteus medius d u r i n g transverse v i b r a t i o n of a
person in a resting, symmetrical sitting position.
Frequency : 1.7 Hz.

Applied Ergonomics

December 1982

References
Bjurvald, M., Carlsl~tk S., l-lansson, J-E., and Sj~flot, L.
1973 Vetenskaplig skriftserie, 7. Helkroppsvibrationer: en
teknisk-fysiologisk studie av arbetsst~fllningar och
ftirarstolar. Arbete och H~tlsa.

Brown, M.C., Engberg, I., and Matthews, P.B.C.

1967 JPhysiol (Lond), 192, 773-800. The relative sensitivity
to vibration of muscle receptors of the cat.

Btirlde de In Camp, H.
1959 Verhadlg Dtsch Ges Pathol, 43.46, 42-53. Klinischer
Erfarungsbericht tiber chronische Folgen traumatischer
Einwirkungen an den Sttitzgeweben.

Dupuis, H., Hartung, E., and Hammer, W.

lwata, H., Dupuis, H., and Hartung, E.

1972 Int Arch Arbeitsmed, 30, 313-327. Ubertragung yon
horizontalen Sinussch wingungen auf die oberen
Extremit/lten bei HalbpronationssteUung und Reaktion
des M biceps.

1976 Int Arch Occup Environ, 37, 9-34. Biomechanisches

Verhalten, Muskelreaktion und subjektive Wahrnemung
bei Schwingungserregung der oberen Extremit~tten
zwischen 8 und 80 Hz.

Jankovieh, J.P.
1971 Structural development of bone in the rat under
earth gravity, simulated weightlessness, hypergravity
and mechanical vibration. NASA CR-1823.

Eehlin, F., and Fessard, A.

1938 JPhysiol (Lond), 93,312-334. Synchronised impulse
discharges from receptors in the deep tissues in
response to a vibrating stimulus.

Kumlin, T., Wiikeri, M., and Sumari, P.

1973 Brit JlndustrMed, 30, 71-73. Radiological changes
in carpal and metacarpal bones and phalanges caused
by chain saw vibration.

Eldund, G.

Lance, J.W.
1965 ProcAustAssocNeurol, 3, 77-82. The mechanism of
reflex irradiation.

1972 Journal o f Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry,

35, 606-611. Position sense and state of contraction;
the effects of vibration.

EHund, G.
1972 UpsalaJMedSci, 77, 112-124. General features of
vibration-induced effects on balance.

Eklund, G.
1973 Upsala J M e d Sci, 78, 65-72. Further studies of
vibration-induced effects on balance.

Eklund, G., and Hagbarth, K-E.

1966 Exp Neurol, 16, 80-92. Normal variability of tonic
vibration reflexes in man.
F/trkkil/i, M.
1978 Scandinavian Journal o f Work, Environment and
Health, 4, 159-166. Grip force in vibration disease.
F/irkkil/I, M., PyyktJ, I., Korhonen, O., and Stark, J.
1979 British J o f l n d M e d , 36, 336-341. Hand grip force
during chain saw operation and vibration white finger
in lumberjacks.

Freund, J.L., and Dupuis, H.

1974 Arbeitsmedizin Sozialmedizin Prllventivmedizin, 9,
234-236. Physiologische und pathologische
Ver~lnderungen durch Ganzkt;rper-Scheingungen.
Goodwin, G.M., MeCloskey, D.I., and Matthews, P.B.C.
1972 Brain, 95, 705-748. The contribution of muscle
afferents to kinaesthesia shown by vibration induced
illusions of movement and by the effects of
paralysing joint afferents.

Granit, R., and Henatseh, H.D.

1956 JNeurophysiol, 19, 356-366. Gamma control of
dynamic properties of muscle spindles.

Hettinger, Th.
1956 Internat Z angew Physiol einschl Arbeitsphysiol Bd,
16, 192-197. Der Einfluss sinusftirmiger Schwingungen
auf die Skelet muskulatur.
Horvath, F., and Kakosy, T.
1979 FortschrROntgenstr, 131.1, 54-59. Arthrose des
distalen radioulnaren Gelenkes bei Motors~genbetreiben.
Isehikawa, IC, Kawaguehi, S., and Rowe, M.J.
1972 Exp Brain Res, 15, 177-193. Actions of afferent
impulses from muscle receptors on cerebellar Purkyne
cells. I responses to muscle vibration.

Lukas, E., and Kuzel, V.

1971 Int Arch Arbeitsmed, 28, 239-249. Klinische und
elektromyographische Diagnostik der Sch/ldingung des
peripheren Nervensystems durch lokale Vibration.

Radin, E., Parker, H., Pugh, J., Steinberg, R., Paul, I., and
Rose, R.
1973 J Biomechanics, 6, 51-57. Response of joints to
impact loading - I I I . Relationship between trabecular
microfractures and cartilage degeneration.

Rood, O.N.
1860 A m J Sci Arts, 24, 449. On contraction of the muscles
induced by contact with bodies in vibration.
Schneider, I.
1972 Die Presslufterkrankung: Mikrotrauma-Anthrose.
Hefte zur Unfallheilkunde, 110, 153-155.
Stepanek, V., and Kandus, J.
1970 Pracovni lekarstvi, 22, 66-69. Arthrotische
Ver~inderungen am Skelett der Bergleute (In Czech).
Suzuki, K., Takahashi, S., and Nakagawa, T.
1978 Acta Orthop Scand, 49, 464-468. Radiological studies
of the wrist joint among chain saw operating lumberjacks in Japan.

Glossary
Annu[ospiral endings - sensory nerve terminals within the

muscle spindle. Muscle spindle is a sense organ situated

in the muscle stimulated by stretching of the muscle.
Arthrosis, pseudoarthrosis - atrophic degeneration due to
lack of nutrients to a joint.
Collagenous fibrils - thin wavy fibres.
Cystiform rarefaction - bladder like expansion.
Cysts - bladders or abnormal sacs containing gas, fluid or
semi-solid material.
Femur - thigh bone.
Fibula - calf bone'.
Flower-spray endings - flower-spray-shaped terminations of
nerve ceils.
Hypertrophy - increase in size.
Interstitial channels - channels or space in a structure.
Intrabecular cavities - hollow spaces between supporting
fibres in a structure.
Isometric contraction - increased tension in a muscle without
change of its length.

Applied Ergonomics

December 1982

257

perception of movement.
- a break of the thigh bone or the shin bone
without obvious displacement, sometimes occurring
during marching of a fatigue nature.
M e d u l l a r y c a v i t y - a hollow area inside a long bone,
containing soft yellow bone marrow.
M e t a t a r s a l b o n e s - five bones in the front of the foot,
situated behind and connected to the bones of the toes.
N e c r o s e s - death of cells.
O s t e o p h y t e f o r m a t i o n s - bony outgrowths.
Kinaesthesia-the
March fractures

AIR

IIIEID

a disease of bone characterised by, increased

porosity and softness.
S c l e r o t i c s t r u c t u r e / t i s s u e - hardening of tissue.
S u b c h o n d r a l ( b o n y t i s s u e ) - underneath a cartilage.
Tibia - shin bone.
T r a b e c u l a - u l a e - supporting fibres traversing the substance
of a structure.
V a c u o l e - an empty space.
V a s c u l a r d a m a g e - damage to small blood vessels.
V a s o c o n s t r i c t i o n - narrowing of the blood vessels.
Osteoporosis -

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