Repetitive Strain Injury
If you are suffereing pain at work, you need to adjust the way you work.
If you carry on using the same keyboard or mouse, hoping it will go away, it won't! It will just get worse. If you take painkillers to help you through the work, it may get worse more quickly as you will be masking the pain, not solving the problem.
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is used as a general term for a wide range of injuries to the hands, wrists, arms, elbows, shoulders, neck and even the back, the result from repetitive work.
Do you use a computer keyboard, mouse or stylus and do you suffer from any of the following symptoms in your fingers, hands, elbows, shoulders, neck and even the back?
pain … pins and needles … muscle spasms … numbness … tenderness … muscle weakness … swelling … "cracking" feeling … restricted movement.
If you do have RSI you should know it is a progressive long-term condition that gets worse the longer it goes unrecognised and untreated. The earlier you start treatment, the better your chance of a complete recovery.
There are three broad stages in the development of RSI:
Stage one: aches and pains, tingling and a feeling of warmth in the hand, arm, neck or shoulder caused by early inflammation arising from intensive work. These may go away after a night's rest. Nearly everybody suffers at times from these, which can stay at this level for months, but they are a warning that must be recognised.
Stage two: recurrent pain, aching and tiredness that occur earlier during the working day. These symptoms persist at night, causing sleeplessness, and can go on for months. Users who work on, or resort to painkillers, without rest or treatment at this stage can go on to develop a very serious conditions. Painkillers do exactly what their name implies. They kill pain but don't cure it. In addition to having some unsavoury side effects, painkillers can make your RSI worse if you keep on working in an artificially pain-free state.
Stage three: constant pain and weakness, even when resting, which can be irreversible. This stage will affect the sufferer's ability to work and to carry out even light tasks at home. There is frequently swelling of the wrists and hands, which go cold and can almost literally turn blue from restricted circulation.
The development of RSI through these stages can sometimes be very dramatic, which users' hands suddenly "seizing up". Although RSI appears to be the gradual build-up of small amounts of damage to the soft tissue of the upper limbs - what started as a dull ache or cramp can develop - in a relatively short time - into a total inability to use the limb.
For more information visit www.hazards.org/strains
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