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How to Find Out If You Have RSI – Repetitive Strain Injury

RSI or Repetitive Strain Injury is a common injury that is under identified in many people.  This may be due, in large part, to the common symptoms that typically go unrecognized by most people.  There are a number of symptoms that could indicate that you may suffer from RSI.  Typically, RSI occurs in people that overuse their fingers and hands with repetitive work.  Although it is not necessarily limited to these types of people, or people may not see their daily tasks as repetitive in this nature.

Symptoms may include but are not limited to the following:

• Low endurance or fatigue
• Hand and/or forearm weakness
• Sensation loss, tingling feeling, or numbness
• A “heavy” feeling in your hands
• “Butter fingers” syndrome—you seem to drop things often
• Hand often feel cold
• Loss or reduction of agility with hands and fingers
• Hypersensitive fingers and hands
• Strange sensations in hands and fingers—burning, itching, or shooting pain
• Unconscious massage (rubbing of hands unawares)
• Dominate (or affected) hand avoidance—you tend to use the other hand for many tasks
• Discontinue leisure activities you once enjoyed because of hand pain or other dysfunction
• Use of another body part to open doors and drawers (foot, forearm, shoulder, etc)
• Difficulty with fine motor control of hands and fingers
• Stop wearing jewelry (like bracelets) because of tenderness or difficulty
• Over protection of hands and fingers

All of these symptoms or a combination of them could be an indication of RSI.  However, some people that have been diagnosed with RSI have not displayed more than one or two symptoms.  This may be one reason why RSI is not as widely known as other disorders (like carpal tunnel syndrome). 

As stated earlier, the cause of RSI is usually due to an overuse of the hands or arms in a repetitive fashion.  Clicking a mouse, typing, or even writing or drawing can all be causes of RSI.  However, there has been some insight into why these things seem to be causing such an injury.  Typically, there are three things that most people who suffer from RSI have in common.

1. Poor Posture
2. Poor Technique
3.  Overuse

These three things tend to be common threads in people who have suffered RSI.    There are other things that contribute to these three items as listed below.  Be aware, that just because you engage in any of the below activities you are not doomed to suffer from RSI.  However, you do increase the risk of RSI.

• More than three or four hours of computer use daily
• Lack of adequate breaks
• Lack of regular exercise
• “Double” jointed
• Suffer from another medical condition—diabetes or arthritis in particular
• Have long fingernails
• Involved in “high pressure” work
• High stress environment—either at work or home
• Overweight
• Suffer from insomnia or lack of sleep

These activities (or lack thereof) can place you at a higher risk of suffering RSI.  People that suffer from RSI and go untreated for the condition can find themselves living life as a hostage to pain and fear.  Those suffering from RSI can end up being totally dependent upon others for daily tasks such as opening and closing doors, typing, unlocking car door, preparing their own meals, washing dishes, washing laundry, folding laundry, driving, and/or unable to engage in a simple handshake with another person.  RSI, if left untreated, can transform your life into a miserable existence.

 Fortunately, there are some things you can do that will help lower your risk of RSI.  There are also step you can take (along with your doctor) to treat RSI.  Here is a list of some things that will help prevent RSI:

Posture

• Keep your feet planted flat on the floor whilst on the computer
• Keep your knees centered above your feet
• Keep your hips above your knee height and titled slightly forward
• Keep your lower back properly supported while seated at the computer
• Keep your shoulders and arms as relaxed as possible when working at the computer
• Keep your neck relaxed and slightly arched inwards

Technique

• Make sure your wrists remain straight—The straighter your wrists, the less tension and strain on them.
• Don’t rest your wrists on the desk or keypad—Your hands should ‘hover’ over the keys allowing the larger muscles in the arms to do the work.  This also helps to keep your wrists straighter that when they are resting on the desk of keypad.
• Do not ‘strain’ yourself—This means that you should avoid stretching for hard to reach keys.  Instead of straining your hands by stretching for these keys, move the entire hand to access it.  When using keyboard shortcuts that involve more than two buttons, use both hands.

Overuse

• Take plenty of breaks to rest your hands and fingers
• Invest in speech recognition software that will allow you to speak the words in order to be automatically ‘typed’ into the program.

A quick study in ergonomics will help you understand how many times your fingers stroke the keys when you type.  This repetitive motion combined with a ‘hard’ touch can cause RSI.  When you are typing, be gentle and use a lighter touch while typing.

If you think you may be suffering from RSI, you should seek professional medical treatment.  Unfortunately, this can be a difficult task.  Many doctors are actually RSI ‘naysayers’.  Others recommend (unnecessary) surgery.  The best thing you can do is find a doctor who knows about RSI and is agreeable to prescribing physical therapy.  RSI can be treated effectively though physical therapy.  Be aware that your RSI did not develop overnight; therefore, it will not go away overnight either.  You will probably spend more time treating RSI (through physical therapy) than it took to develop RSI.

The good news is that RSI can be treated successfully without surgery and there are ways to prevent it from dominating your life.  Take the time to educate yourself and others about RSI and begin practicing proper prevention to keep your fingers and hands working for you instead of against you.