What Causes Repetitive Stress Injury?

Literally speaking, repetitive stress injury can be very painful. You've probably had one at some point, particularly if your work requires you to do a lot of the same motion over and over.

Repetitive stress injury is caused when you perform the same bodily motion repetitively, it puts too much strain on a joint, making the muscles and tendons in the affected area to swell and cause pain.

An example would be if you work on a computer a lot, which could cause pain and swelling in your hands, especially the hand which you use to maneuver your computer's mouse.

Bursae

Bursae are another possible affected area. They are fluid-filled sacs situated between your bones and tendons. Their purpose is to protect the two from each other during your everyday activities, but they also can become inflamed through repetitive stress.

You've probably heard of bursitis, possibly from an older person talking about aching joints. While it might sound like one of those medical terms from another era, it's very real and modern. Actually, the two most common types of repetitive stress injury are bursitis and tendonitis.

Some common, everyday actions that can cause repetitive stress are typing/using a computer mouse, painting with a brush, playing tennis or golf, doing a lot of bending and picking up of objects, essentially anything where you're putting stress on your joints through repetitive motion.

Symptoms Of Repetitive Stress Injury

The human body has a pretty good internal alarm system. You'll feel pain in a particular area, and it's likely to make sense based on the activity or activities in which you've been engaged.

The affected area is likely to be tender and swollen, perhaps even red and hot as if fevered. It may be painful to try to move the joint because of the injury. It's had enough and it's telling you it needs a break to heal.

The pain might even wake you up at night in more serious cases of repetitive stress injury. It's definitely time to give the area some tender loving care and perhaps some medical attention.

Applying cold to the sore area could provide some temporary relief if you don't have poor blood circulation. Also, try relaxing the area with the repetitive stress injury. If your efforts don't relieve the pain, schedule an appointment to see your family doctor.

What should you expect when you visit a doctor?

To rule out any other conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or gout that could be causing the pain, doctor will initially perform a physical exam and perhaps some blood tests and X-rays.

The doctor may tell you to take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drug such as aspirin or ibuprofen or might write a prescription for a stronger anti-inflammatory medication, depending on the extent of the injury and the associated pain.

Your physician may move to prescribing an oral cortisone or even injecting cortisone into the damaged joint if the injury is more significant and these medications don't help.

Whatever the doctor prescribes, be it medication or certain actions on your part, follow his or her directions to the T. Hopefully, you'll be feeling better before you can say carpal tunnel syndrome.