Repetitive Stress Injuries

Repetitive Stress Injuries

How do RSIs Occur?

• Tendons do not stretch or contract on their own. They elongate in response to muscle contraction with results in movement of extremities.

• Holding static postures or continuous motion without frequent breaks forces the tendons to remain in the elongated state.

• This taxes tendons beyond their strength capabilities, resulting in microscopic tears in the tendon fibers, followed by inflammation. These tears occur if the load or stress on the tendon is excessive or if the rest between loads is insufficient to allow for recovery.

Specific RSIs

• Tendonitis – inflammation resulting when tendons are damaged due to excess load or stress; fibers may fray or tear and tendons can become thickened, bumpy or irregular, causing pain; for computer users, this can occur in the hand, wrist, elbow, or shoulder.

• Tenosynovitis – a tendon injury involving the synovial sheath that covers the tendons; this sheath protects tendons from bones and may produce excessive fluid, becoming painful and swollen.

• Stenosing Tenosynovitis – the tendon has difficulty moving through it’s sheath, causing pain

• DeQuervain’s Disease – occurs where the tendon and tendon sheath merge at the junction of the wrist and thumb; holding the thumbs up while typing or hitting the space bar with too much force can be risk factors.

• Trigger Finger – most common in the ring finger and the thumb; occurs when a nodule or ganglion cyst forms on the tendon causing the finger to lock in a bent position.

• Epicondylitis – occurs at the elbow and is typically the result of mousing at a desk that is too high; referred to as “tennis elbow” if the pain is on the outside of the elbow or “golfer’s elbow” if the pain is on the inside of the elbow.

• Ganglion cysts – occur when the tendon sheath fills with synovial fluid and causes a growth to form under the skin, often on the wrist

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – occurs where the median nerve passes through the wrist and results from inflammation in the carpal tunnel, causing compression of the medial nerve; primary symptoms are numbness and tingling in the fingers, loss of grip strength and pain that wakes you up at night.