Lurking behind your daily activities may be a hidden repetitive stress injury just waiting to reveal itself after one too many repeated motions. Your body may start crying out in pain, surprising you since you’ve done nothing strenuous to deserve such pain. Or so you think.
A repetitive stress injury is actually quite common, cropping up when stress is placed on various parts of your body from repeated movements causing pain, swelling, muscle strain, or tissue damage. Left untreated, your pain may continue to progress and possibly cause permanent damage.
What Actions Cause Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI)?
There are over a 100 different kinds of injuries that come from repeated wear and tear on your body, but often a repetitive stress injury is a result of:
- Working on a computer
- Participating in sports
- Playing video games
- Performing household chores
- Playing musical instruments
After enough time involved in activities with repetitive motions, your body gradually builds up tension in your muscles, tendons, and joints causing such injuries as carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis and golfer’s elbow, iliotibial band syndrome, rotator cuff injuries, and plantar fasciitis.
What are the Symptoms of a Repetitive Stress Injury?
- Pain aggravated by movement
- Reduced range of motion
- Swelling
- Weakness
- Stiffness
You might first notice signs of soreness, tingling, or discomfort in your neck, arms, wrists, fingers, or shoulders. Your symptoms may disappear after you stop the activity, but they’ll crop right back up when your activity resumes.
How is a Repetitive Stress Injury Treated?
Often people look to their doctor for help with RSI’s, but their answer is usually medication or surgery. A successful approach for treating a repetitive stress injury without the use of medication or surgery involves chiropractic care. Chiropractors are trained health professionals and experts of getting to the root of your problem with a wide range of successful treatment options such as:
- Manipulation or mobilization of the surrounding joints to increase your movement and ease pressure on surrounding muscles and tendons
- Deep soft tissue work to reduce knots and tension
- Therapeutic ultrasound to speed up healing time and improve quality of scar tissue
- Advice for better posture, positioning, and procedures to avoid continued injury
Seek Professional Help
Bottom line, when you start experiencing pain in your body from a repetitive stress injury, contact Dr. Knight at True North Chiropractic & Wellness so you can get back to your regular activities- instead of suffering in silence.