RSI Is An Acronym For Repetitive Stress Injury Or Repetitive Strain Injury. 

More of a modern day term Reptitive Stress Injury is associated predominantly with the over use of the computer, it is also associated with any type of activity at requires a repetitive motion of a part of the body. Although any type of repetitive motion can be associated with this condition by in large it has become known as a workplace injury.

This type of injury generally affects the muscles, tendons, and nerves in the arms and upper back. Medically, repetitive strain injury happens when the muscles that are in those areas remain tense for a long amount. This is mainly because of poor posture or repetitive motions. The most common type of occupational repetitive stress injury injuries are those who work all day at a computer or those involved in assembly line work.

In order to help prevent yourself from getting repetitive stress injury, you should be very aware of good posture and should practice good posture, be mindful of your ergonomics, and limit the amount of time you spend in working conditions requiring awkward posture and repetitive motions of the hands, wrists and arms. 

If you’re already afflicted with this type of injury, then by being mindful of the aforementioned, you can possibly halt the progression of the injury. 

Stretching and strengthening should also become a part of both your preventative strategy as well as the treatment of repetitive stress injury. Also massages as well as biofeedback training to help reduce your neck and shoulder muscle tension has also proven effective in some cases. All of these techniques and approaches can help you heal any existing repetitive stress injuries that you may have and prevent the onset.

A repetitive stress injury isn’t a specific disorder; instead it is a loose group of more specific disorders.

The majority of these conditions are interrelated to one another, meaning that anyone who suffers from one of repetitive stress injury conditions most likely suffers from more than one at the same time. 

Probably the most well known of the types of repetitive stress injuries is carpal tunnel syndrome. This is very common with assembly line workers and yet fairly rare with computer users. 

If you are a computer user and suffer from some type of arm pain, it is usually caused by a different specific condition. Some of the other related conditions in this group are DeQuervain’s syndrome, intersection syndrome, reflex sympathetic syndrome, stenosing tenosynovitis, tendonitis, tenosynovitis, thoracic outlet syndrome, trigger finger/thumb, and ulnar nerve entrapment.

There are litanies of symptoms that have become associated with repetitive stress injury. They can include, but are not limited to, pain or soreness in the neck, shoulders, upper back, wrists or hands that keeps happening. It is quite possible for you to experience a tingling, numbness, coldness, or loss of sensation in a particular area. In addition, loss of grip strength, lack of endurance, weakness, and fatigue can also indicate a repetitive stress injury.  

It is entirely possible for you in the early stages of repetitive stress injury to incorrectly believe that the pain and numbness is a result of lying on their arms in a bad position and cutting off their circulation. Your hand numbness for example, could possibly be caused by a pinched nerve around your shoulder. 

In the beginning stages of a repetitive stress injury, a particular area could be affected by repetitive stress injury, however, you may not feel any direct pain there unless the area is massaged. This is why when your doctor is evaluating you for possible areas affected by repetitive stress injury, they will massage, and palpitate many areas of your upper body.

If you suspect you may have an repetitive stress injury, you should make arrange to consult with your family doctor.

See Also:
Types Of Repetitive Strain