Although our country is doing well in terms of the number of Corona infections, we are still expected to work from home as much as possible. Do you notice that you are starting to suffer from wrist, arm, neck or shoulder pain due to working a lot from home? If so, this could indicate RSI. RSI (repetitive strain injury) is a collective term for muscle and joint complaints of the hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, and/or neck. With RSI, it is important to raise the alarm in time, because the symptoms worsen as you keep running with it. Often, RSI is not noticed until too late.
How does RSI occur?
RSI is an injury caused by repetitive strain. Simply put, it comes down to one performed a movement too many times. Nowadays, working at a computer is the most common cause of RSI. If you work a lot at the computer, you put strain on your fingers, wrists, arms and your shoulder and neck region. These muscles start to ache and your circulation gets worse. Especially in your hands and fingers, good circulation is important and these are put under heavy strain by typing and mousing.
When do you speak of RSI?
RSI symptoms develop gradually and can occur in your hands, arms, shoulders, neck and upper back. The symptoms usually start as tingling, a cold or dead feeling or mild pain. These symptoms can worsen into chronic pain and stiffness. If you suffer from neck pain, it can also cause headaches. Your symptoms may also move from one part of the body to another. In principle, RSI complaints are often not seen as alarming. Many people are not surprised to sometimes have a sore wrist or cold fingers. Also, the pain and fatigue are localised, not really bothersome and disappear after the action. Over time, however, the pain persists and loss of strength begins to occur. In the final stage, the pain persists, even at night.
Because RSI is a collective name for many conditions, it is often also referred to as more specific conditions such as tennis elbow, mouse arm or carpal tunnel syndrome.
What can you do yourself to prevent it?
Besides typing and mousing, workload and working conditions (workplace ergonomics) also play a role. RSI appears to be mainly caused by short-term high workloads, rather than after long-term low workloads. Tips:
- Sit straight in front of your computer and make sure you can see straight onto screen.
- Make sure your chair is at the right height for your desk.
- Change your posture regularly. Avoid sitting in the same posture for long periods. Maintain a relaxed posture.
- Make sure there is enough variety in your work. In computer work, mouse work and typing should be alternated as much as possible.
- Try to keep your wrist straight during all your actions. Do not move or twist your wrist outwards.
- Take sufficient breaks in between to relax your muscles.
- Provide appropriate workplace supplies such as: (vertical) mice, armrests and ergonomic keyboards
RSI treatment at FriskFysio in Amstelveen
Especially if RSI symptoms increase, it is important that you seek help from our (specialised) physiotherapists. The RSI treatment within our physio practice of RSI complaints focuses mainly on influencing the causal factors of RSI. That is, we look at all the causal factors responsible for developing your RSI symptoms. These causal factors cause tension to build up in the complaint area.It is important to know how the symptoms arose, as this is very important to determine the right recovery process. Would you like to make a physiotherapy appointment to discuss treatment options? Call 085-5000333 For an appointment, send an e-mail to info@friskfysio.nl or fill in the contact form on our website. We will contact you as soon as possible.
