ABSTRACT
The impairment in blood flow is one of the mechanisms that has been identified in the literature to be in the genesis of musculoskeletal disorders, especially in repetitive strain injuries (Brunnekreef et al., 2006, Gold et al., 2010, Pritchard et al., 1999). The presence of pathology may affect local thermal homeostasis, increasing or decreasing skin temperature through blood flow regulation. Sympathetic nervous system alterations have been identified in patients with upper limb musculoskeletal disorders (Greening et al., 2003), which in turn will affect the blood supply to the skin because skin temperature is highly dependent of subcutaneous perfusion (Gold et al., 2009). It seems clear that monitoring skin temperature may give researchers and clinical experts an insight on the complex subject of musculoskeletal disorders.
