What is a Repetitive Stain Injury?
A repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is also known as an overuse injury. These types of injuries can occur in many areas of the body since the term RSI refers to the mechanism of injury rather than the structure which has been injured.
For example, when a tendon is strained repetitively in a certain fashion, we would call it tendonitis. When tendonitis occurs in the elbow it is often refers to as Tennis Elbow or lateral epicondylitis.
Repetitive movements often create muscle imbalances anchored in neural patterns. When these improper neural patterns wear over a period of time, the joint involved can get inflamed and produce pain. A common and well-known example of this is rotator cuff injury
How do you get RSI
Any movement that is done repetitively has the potential to lead to a repetitive strain injury. Even if the movement seems small and innocuous, for example, texting on a cell phone, it can lead to RSI. Often times, these injuries appear slowly and over time since the injury is a cumulative effect of repetition.
A classic example of a repetitive strain injury is found in people who spend many hours per day at a keyboard. The malposition of the hands and repetition of the finger movements can lead to small traumas which over time create injuries and pain patterns. This is commonly known as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Postural alterations can cause great injury over time, these types of RSI can be so in depth that they affect the very structure of the spine. I can also lead to arthritic changes or degeneration of the spine.
Treatment for RSI
Treatment for RSI can be quite successful. While it is important to address the location of the pain, it is equally important to assess the function of the entire body to determine the reason why stresses are injuring this are.
Chiropractors are trained diagnose the problem at hand. A complete examination taking into account neurological, orthopaedic and postural factors leads to a complete diagnosis identifying the cause of the injury and its mechanism. When the cause of the injury is identified, the result of the treatment is more complete and chances of reoccurence decrease.
It must be noted that most RSI happen over time, this means that the injuries are often longstanding and well anchored. Patience and adherance to proper programme of care is beneficial to the positive outcome of these stubborn conditions.