Understanding Repetitive Stress Injuries
Repetitive stress injury (RSI) is a stress-related, cumulative injury resulting from constant, repetitive movements. Awkward angles of movement and insufficient rest periods during work are large factors often contributing to this injury.
Due to the popularization of technology in the workplace, physicians treating someone with RSI must suddenly consider a whole new collection of ergonomic concerns. An effective treatment plan requires the doctor to identify and help the patient change behaviors that initially produced the injury.
We often push ourselves to our physical limits trying to meet impossible deadlines. With the introduction of the computer, we now type faster than ever before. We communicate endlessly on our cellular phones and through email. We rarely leave our workstations for fear of falling behind in the competitive world marketplace. Our bodies are not used to such a non-stop, high speed schedule. The result is an epidemic of repetitive strain injuries.
It is time for education. We must understand our jobs and our job's effects on our bodies. Prevention is the only cure for this pernicious kind of injury. It is time to respect our health at work and do the same at home.
RSI is a cumulative injury - tendons, ligaments, and muscles are worn down over time doing repetitive tasks with few rest breaks. Therefore, the real key to a full recovery goes way beyond being evaluated in a doctor's office and showing up for physiotherapy sessions on a weekly basis. Recovery requires a commitment to long term changes in your attitude and behaviour well after you have healed.
In the physiotherapy clinic, we often address the physiological and psychological changes that can occur with RSI. We then go over flexibility, range of motion and muscle tone. The more the patient understands RSI, the easier it will be to adapt and heal.
If you see signs or symptoms of RSI, take the time to learn how you can prevent further injury and save yourself a lot of time, pain and strife in the long run!
Due to the popularization of technology in the workplace, physicians treating someone with RSI must suddenly consider a whole new collection of ergonomic concerns. An effective treatment plan requires the doctor to identify and help the patient change behaviors that initially produced the injury.
We often push ourselves to our physical limits trying to meet impossible deadlines. With the introduction of the computer, we now type faster than ever before. We communicate endlessly on our cellular phones and through email. We rarely leave our workstations for fear of falling behind in the competitive world marketplace. Our bodies are not used to such a non-stop, high speed schedule. The result is an epidemic of repetitive strain injuries.
It is time for education. We must understand our jobs and our job's effects on our bodies. Prevention is the only cure for this pernicious kind of injury. It is time to respect our health at work and do the same at home.
RSI is a cumulative injury - tendons, ligaments, and muscles are worn down over time doing repetitive tasks with few rest breaks. Therefore, the real key to a full recovery goes way beyond being evaluated in a doctor's office and showing up for physiotherapy sessions on a weekly basis. Recovery requires a commitment to long term changes in your attitude and behaviour well after you have healed.
In the physiotherapy clinic, we often address the physiological and psychological changes that can occur with RSI. We then go over flexibility, range of motion and muscle tone. The more the patient understands RSI, the easier it will be to adapt and heal.
If you see signs or symptoms of RSI, take the time to learn how you can prevent further injury and save yourself a lot of time, pain and strife in the long run!
posted by Tom and Len | 9:15 PM
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