Repetitive Stress Injuries Primer
A repetitive stress injury can be a pain, literally. You've probably had one at some point, particularly if your work requires you to do a lot of the same motion over and over. But what exactly is a repetitive stress injury? When you perform the same bodily motion repetitively, it puts too much strain on a joint, making the muscles and tendons in the affected area to swell and cause pain. An example would be if you work on a computer a lot, which could cause pain and swelling in your hands, particularly the hand which you use to maneuver your computer's mouse.
Another affected area might be the bursae, which are fluid-filled sacs situated between your bones and tendons. Their purpose is to protect the two from each other during your everyday activities, but they also can become inflamed through repetitive stress. You've probably heard of bursitis, probably from an older person talking about aching joints. While it might sound like one of those medical terms from another era, it's very real and modern. In fact, bursitis (inflammation of the bursae) and tendonitis (inflammation of the tendons) are the two most common types of repetitive stress injury.
Some common, everyday actions that can cause repetitive stress are typing/using a computer mouse, playing tennis or golf, painting with a brush, doing a lot of bending and picking up of objects (not to mention this could lead to other types of back injuries), basically anything where you're putting stress on your joints through repetitive motion.
How can you tell if you have a repetitive stress injury? The human body has a pretty good internal alarm system. You'll feel pain in a specific area, and it's likely to make sense based on the activity or activities in which you've been engaged. The affected area is likely to be tender and swollen, perhaps even red and hot as if fevered. Because of the injury, it may be painful to try to move the joint. It's had enough and it's telling you it needs a break to heal. In more serious cases of repetitive stress injury, the pain might even wake you up at night. It's definitely time to give the area some tender loving care and perhaps some medical attention.
If you don't have poor blood circulation, applying cold to the sore area could provide some temporary relief. Also, try relaxing the area with the repetitive stress injury. If your efforts don't relieve the pain, schedule an appointment to see your family doctor.
What should you expect if you visit a doctor for your repetitive stress injury? First, the doctor likely will perform a physical exam and perhaps some blood tests and X-rays, mainly to rule out any other conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or gout that could be causing the pain.
The doctor may tell you to take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drug such as aspirin or ibuprofen or might write a prescription for a stronger anti-inflammatory medication, depending on the extent of the injury and the associated pain. If the injury is more significant and these medications don't help, your physician may move to prescribing an oral cortisone or even injecting cortisone into the damaged joint. Whatever the doctor prescribes, be it medication or certain actions on your part, follow his or her directions to the T. Hopefully, you'll be feeling better before you can say carpal tunnel syndrome.