<p>It just so happens that in today’s world of technology, computers are the most used gadgets by professionals in the IT industry, school children and everyone in between. All the coding and typing they do creates enormous stress on the small joints of the wrist, fingers, neck etc. The movements are deft and short and they do not require strength, yet these seemingly docile movements cause incredible damage which is debilitating enough to arrest movement and cause chronic/ acute pain. <br /><br />Ever wonder how seemingly innocuous activities such as typing or clicking a mouse button could possibly be harmful? Fine hand movements — repeated hour after hour, day after day, thousands upon thousands of times — eventually strain the muscles and tendons of the forearms, wrists, and fingers, causing microscopic tears. <br /><br />Injured muscles tend to contract, decreasing the range of motion necessary for stress-free work. The sheaths that cover delicate tendons run out of lubrication because they aren’t given time to rest, so tendon and sheath chafe, resulting in pain. Due to this abrasion, tendons become inflamed and begin to pinch neighbouring nerves. This can result in numbness, tingling or hypersensitivity. Unless this cycle is interrupted, it repeats itself over and over and a long-term, chronic problem results.<br /><br />Repetitive stress injury (RSI) can affect more than just your hands and wrists. Combined with poor posture, it can lead to severe neck and back injuries. Staring at a computer screen can lead to eye strain. Repetitive reaching for a mouse can lead to arm and neck strain as well as spinal asymmetry.<br /><br />RSI, simply defined, is a temporary loss of function or acute injury causing severe pain during movement of the joints, ligaments, muscles, tendons and nerves. It stems from prolonged, repetitive, forceful, or awkward movements. <br /><br />The repetitive nature of the jobs, such as typing, and the poor positions and postures often taken by IT professionals, business executives, secretaries, students and dentists lead to muscular over usage and fatigue. This contributes to a tendon pain at the joint, followed by compromised joint movement and, finally, to an chronic, dull pain. This progressive and cumulative stress leads to dysfunction of joints, ligaments, tendons and nerves. <br /><br />The cumulativeness of this fatigue and compensatory movement leads to weakness, pain, numbness and impairment of motor control.<br /><br />What you must do…<br /><br />*See a doctor and seek expert advice to figure out the cause of the pain and not just the location.<br /><br />*Follow the RICE principle, which is Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. This is ideally to be done for 5 minutes every hour, but if you cannot find time every hour, then perform RICE at least 4 to 6 times a day for about a week. <br /><br />*Get adequate rest. Sometimes, this means complete rest to allow for inflammation and stress to subside. At other times, active recovery is advisable.<br /><br />*Take a contrast bath. Hot and cold baths improve blood circulation. This is essentially to be done after about a week of RICE. This allows for good blood circulation and improved muscle function by reducing the spasm.<br /><br />*Mobility exercises done in cold water improve joint mobility and muscle function without causing the muscle to spasm.<br /><br />*Reduce work load and plan your work load intelligently. For example, if you are experiencing pain after 30 minutes of work, stop at 20 minutes. Do not work till you feel the pain. You have to train the body to respond to pain even before the body feels it. <br /><br />Hence the advice: stop work just before the sensation of pain and allow the muscles to be sensitised to discomfort, the early signs of pain, rather than the pain itself.<br /><br />*Consult a rehabilitation specialist to relieve pain, improve and strengthen the joint function and muscles and seek advice on how to return to active and functional living.<br /><br />*Just because the pain is gone, it does not mean that the injury has healed. Beware of this phenomenon. Recurrence of pain is likely if we do not change the manner in which we work.<br /><br />When people develop RSI and do not take steps to correct the problem, there may be serious repercussions.<br /><br /> At its severest condition, RSI can prevent you from doing simple things like opening doors, chopping vegetables, cooking, washing clothes, driving, writing, typing, or even shaking hands. <br /><br />In addition to limiting the day-to-day functionality, this decreased independence can cause a significant emotional burden.<br /><br />Exercise regularly, exercise correctly and take frequent breaks to keep your joints strong and muscles strong. Ultimately, computers are not the culprits. It is our way of using these computers that causes RSI.</p>
<p>It just so happens that in today’s world of technology, computers are the most used gadgets by professionals in the IT industry, school children and everyone in between. All the coding and typing they do creates enormous stress on the small joints of the wrist, fingers, neck etc. The movements are deft and short and they do not require strength, yet these seemingly docile movements cause incredible damage which is debilitating enough to arrest movement and cause chronic/ acute pain. <br /><br />Ever wonder how seemingly innocuous activities such as typing or clicking a mouse button could possibly be harmful? Fine hand movements — repeated hour after hour, day after day, thousands upon thousands of times — eventually strain the muscles and tendons of the forearms, wrists, and fingers, causing microscopic tears. <br /><br />Injured muscles tend to contract, decreasing the range of motion necessary for stress-free work. The sheaths that cover delicate tendons run out of lubrication because they aren’t given time to rest, so tendon and sheath chafe, resulting in pain. Due to this abrasion, tendons become inflamed and begin to pinch neighbouring nerves. This can result in numbness, tingling or hypersensitivity. Unless this cycle is interrupted, it repeats itself over and over and a long-term, chronic problem results.<br /><br />Repetitive stress injury (RSI) can affect more than just your hands and wrists. Combined with poor posture, it can lead to severe neck and back injuries. Staring at a computer screen can lead to eye strain. Repetitive reaching for a mouse can lead to arm and neck strain as well as spinal asymmetry.<br /><br />RSI, simply defined, is a temporary loss of function or acute injury causing severe pain during movement of the joints, ligaments, muscles, tendons and nerves. It stems from prolonged, repetitive, forceful, or awkward movements. <br /><br />The repetitive nature of the jobs, such as typing, and the poor positions and postures often taken by IT professionals, business executives, secretaries, students and dentists lead to muscular over usage and fatigue. This contributes to a tendon pain at the joint, followed by compromised joint movement and, finally, to an chronic, dull pain. This progressive and cumulative stress leads to dysfunction of joints, ligaments, tendons and nerves. <br /><br />The cumulativeness of this fatigue and compensatory movement leads to weakness, pain, numbness and impairment of motor control.<br /><br />What you must do…<br /><br />*See a doctor and seek expert advice to figure out the cause of the pain and not just the location.<br /><br />*Follow the RICE principle, which is Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. This is ideally to be done for 5 minutes every hour, but if you cannot find time every hour, then perform RICE at least 4 to 6 times a day for about a week. <br /><br />*Get adequate rest. Sometimes, this means complete rest to allow for inflammation and stress to subside. At other times, active recovery is advisable.<br /><br />*Take a contrast bath. Hot and cold baths improve blood circulation. This is essentially to be done after about a week of RICE. This allows for good blood circulation and improved muscle function by reducing the spasm.<br /><br />*Mobility exercises done in cold water improve joint mobility and muscle function without causing the muscle to spasm.<br /><br />*Reduce work load and plan your work load intelligently. For example, if you are experiencing pain after 30 minutes of work, stop at 20 minutes. Do not work till you feel the pain. You have to train the body to respond to pain even before the body feels it. <br /><br />Hence the advice: stop work just before the sensation of pain and allow the muscles to be sensitised to discomfort, the early signs of pain, rather than the pain itself.<br /><br />*Consult a rehabilitation specialist to relieve pain, improve and strengthen the joint function and muscles and seek advice on how to return to active and functional living.<br /><br />*Just because the pain is gone, it does not mean that the injury has healed. Beware of this phenomenon. Recurrence of pain is likely if we do not change the manner in which we work.<br /><br />When people develop RSI and do not take steps to correct the problem, there may be serious repercussions.<br /><br /> At its severest condition, RSI can prevent you from doing simple things like opening doors, chopping vegetables, cooking, washing clothes, driving, writing, typing, or even shaking hands. <br /><br />In addition to limiting the day-to-day functionality, this decreased independence can cause a significant emotional burden.<br /><br />Exercise regularly, exercise correctly and take frequent breaks to keep your joints strong and muscles strong. Ultimately, computers are not the culprits. It is our way of using these computers that causes RSI.</p>
