What is The Best Way To Deal With Repetitive Stress Injuries?
If you had to come up with a number for the times your hands and arms make the same movements each hour that you are at work, how many would that be? Dozens at least. And it is probably true that you also always sit a certain way, move in front of the computer and move the mouse.
If you aren’t properly aligned while you work, you can slowly create something known as repetitive stress injury (RSI). Caused by repetitive movements of the hands, arms and shoulders, this condition can gradually evolve into something quite painful.
When you make the wrong movements, even slightly off alignment, the blood flow to the muscles is reduced. Over time the tendons move improperly against the ligaments and bones and become you know it, the tendons become inflamed and painful. It could get even worse, and you could pinch a nerve in your neck or lower back. Repeating these same movements every day could lead to injuries severe enough to need surgery.
The first signs of a repetitive stress injury are aching muscles or cramped feeling in the arms, shoulders or wrist. Even when you stop typing or working, your muscles still feel tired. You may also have a pain that seems to run up the arm to the shoulder like waves. You could otherwise experience tingling and numbness in one area. This is particularly awkward when your typing speed is impaired by numbness in the fingers.
As the condition progresses, the pain remains even after you stop working. Anything you do around the house becomes painful. The numbness and pain waves can also interrupt your sleep. The pain could be bad enough to force you to give up activities you normally enjoy, such as cooking, playing sports and sewing. If before you only felt pain while you were at work, as the condition progresses you feel pain all the time.
Medical attention is best sought after the onset of the first pain. You shouldn’t sit in any other way than straight on your chair. If you lean or slouch, you can get out of alignment with the keyboard. Arrange your keyboard height so that your elbows are bent and wrists are not bent as you type. You might want to purchase a gel filled wrist rest from an office supply store. Gel wrist rests are being produced on a large scale, and some of them are manufactured for your mouse. Beware of placing your mouse anywhere higher than your keyboard, since those movements put a lot of stress on the shoulders. That’s really rough on your shoulder joint.
Try to remove your hand from the mouse or keyboard when you are not typing. You should take the time to exercise your wrists for a minute a couple of times per hour. Move your hand up and down, then bend your elbow to move your arm up and down. You can easily find RSI exercises on the internet.
You should take action to change your pattern before repetitive stress syndrome gets worse. Take this problem seriously before it becomes carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis or bursitis. RSI is more than a pain, it’s a leading cause of workplace disability that can be avoided or delayed.
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