I wrote the following note so I could send it to people that ask me about their RSI problem in the hall etc. This was written around 1996 I think.
First it is ABSOLUTELY critical that you immediately obtain and read the following two books.
Repetitive Strain Injury A Computer User's Guide Emil Pascarelli, MD and Deborah Quilter. This is usually found in the computer section, but it equally valuable for music, or meat packing injurys.
Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries: A Self-Care Program by Sharon J. Butler. This is sometimes found in the health section, in a section for sorted by afflictions, under Carpal.
I have a friend who lost the ability to pick up a piece of paper or grip the steering wheel of her car. The good news is that after two years she is mostly fine.
It has taken me a year of constant, delicate effort to get my problem reduced to a level where it is rarely painful.
I have no training in medicine. Everything below is entirely my own personal opinion and you would do well to presume I'm a raving lunatic.
The sooner you do the right things the better, since it will take a long long time to heal and some very delicate work to undo some of the compensating things your body does to protect the injuries.
Do not undergo surgery until you are entirely sure that you understand the diagnosis and that it makes sense to you. This will require learning a certain amount of anatomy, jargon, and putting up with a number of people that have less than entirely amusing social skills.
While gadgets can help some, they are absolutely not a cure. Particularly once you get to the point of pain. In fact some gadgets encourage the behaviors that trigger the problem in the first place.
The pain of RSI often mimics the pain that occurs after exercising a weak muscle. That often leads people to think that weakness is the problem. This is wrong in most cases. The fact is that pain is a message - LEAVE ME ALONE, pay attention.
I've never met a hysteric but to hear tell they hang out a lot at doctor's offices. So doctors often seek a way to measure a "sign" that will prove you are not misled about your "symptoms." One such test is the nerve conduction test.
The nerve conduction test is an accurate indicator of nerve damage, but not of nerve inflammation. So, if the test results are positive that means that you have damaged some nerves and you're in for a much longer healing time - it is also good news since you will now have something you can use to prove you're not making this all up. A negative test is good news, i.e., you should be able to heal things faster. It does not mean you are a hysteric. In either case if the test done by a bad practitioner will be a paperwork nightmare.
Subscribe, by sending email to:
listserv@itssrv1.ucsf.edu
and in the body of the message, put
subscribe sorehand Firstname Lastname
After your subscription is confirmed then:
send mail again to:
listserv@itssrv1.ucsf.edu
and in the body of the message say:
set sorehand digest
You will then get one message a day containing about a dozen messages. The second step is very important. A victim of RSI does not need another dozen mail messages a day.
The medical community is one of the painful symptoms of this affliction. The mainstream community is populated with arrogant individuals who are pessimistic about the patients. The alternative medical community is anti-professional and drawn to mysticism.
Many people are driven to alternative medicine for help by
the difficulty of finding a mainstream medical practitioner
who is trained in this problem - it helps a lot to ask:
"Do you or does some one you know have extensive experience with
repetitive stress injuries like this?"
A few common problems in the mainstream community merit comment. Mainstream physical therapists are well trained in techniques for strengthing muscles that have atrophied due to injury or splinting. Such techniques are often inappropriate for RSI problems. RSI from typing is a recent "epidemic" and many general practitioners are totally clueless about it. It takes time and some practice to do a high quality RSI diagnosis. There is no quick fix.
The mainstream medical community can deal with these problems well. But for the reasons above as well as others YOU will have to learn enough to do your own assessment of the diagnosis and treatment you're getting. This is not like a broken leg, or an ear infection. This is rare enough that you need to stalk out a good professional.
Meanwhile, the alternative medical community has helped some people. It is possible that the good professional will turn out to be a chiropractor (a good filter is to discard those that want to do an x-ray). The alternative medical community has more branches than there are protestant churches. Some RSI suffers speak very highly of the stretching and body awareness branches, i.e. Yoga, Feldenkrais, Alexander, Tai-Chi etc.
The mainstream community also has a lot of branches: physiatrist, osteopaths, neurologists, occupational therapists, general practitioners, and hand surgeons. Each brings something to the table, but the most important thing is how good an RSI professional is the individual.
It will take a LONG time to effect a cure. Many people take years, some lucky devils only a few months, many people get some relief quickly. The time taken to find good people to help and a solid diagnosis is well worth it. You really need to know exactly what is getting pinched, where you have lost range of motion, and what's wrong with your work environment that caused the problem. Rushing to the treatment is a very high risk gamble.
Once again, I have no training in this area. You would do well to assume I'm a raving lunatic.
Nothing can substitute for reading the books mentioned above, but this site is a well executed.
Ben Hyde