What Is Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)?:

(This article does not cite any references or sources: 19 September 2007): What Is Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)/Work Related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD)?: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetitive_strain_injury

A repetitive strain injury (RSI), also called cumulative trauma disorder, occupational overuse syndrome, or work related upper limb disorder (WRULD), is any of a loose group of conditions resulting from overuse of a tool, eg. computer, guitar, knife, etc. or other activity that requires repeated movements.

It is a syndrome that affects muscles, tendons and nerves in the hands, arms and upper back.

The medically accepted condition in which it occurs is when muscles in these areas are kept tense for very long periods of time, due to poor posture and/or repetitive motions.

It is most common among assembly line and computer workers.

Good posture, ergonomics and limiting time in stressful working conditions can help prevent or halt the progress of the disorder.

Stretches, strengthening exercises, and biofeedback training to reduce neck and shoulder muscle tension can help heal existing disorders.

Specific conditions: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetitive_strain_...#Specific_conditions

The most well known repetitive strain injury is carpal tunnel syndrome, which is common among guitarists as well as assembly line workers but relatively rare among computer users: computer-related arm pain is generally caused by another specific condition.

Many of these disorders are interrelated, so a typical suffering person may have many of these at once.

For other people, no specific diagnosis is possible. In these cases it is often best to treat RSI as a single general disorder, targeting all major areas of the arms and upper back in the course of treatment.

Some of these are:

*Carpal tunnel syndrome: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome

*Cubital tunnel syndrome: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubital_tunnel , a form of Ulnar nerve entrapment: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulnar_nerve_entrapment

*Intersection syndrome: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersection_syndrome

*Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSDS): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflex_sympathetic_dystrophy_syndrome

*Stenosing tenosynovitis: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenosing_tenosynovitis

*DeQuervain's syndrome: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeQuervain%27s_syndrome

*Trigger finger/thumb.

*Epicondylitis: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicondylitis

*Golfer's elbow: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golfer%27s_elbow

*Tennis elbow: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_elbow

*Tendinitis: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendinitis

*Tenosynovitis: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenosynovitis

*Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoracic_Outlet_Syndrome

*Radial tunnel syndrome: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_tunnel_syndrome

*Gamekeeper's thumb: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamekeeper%27s_thumb

*Rubik's Wrist (tendonitis or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome caused specifically by repetitive use of a rubik's cube for speedcubing.

(This article does not cite any references or sources: 19 September 2007).

What Is Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)/Work Related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD)?: www.nhs.uk/conditions/repetitive-strain-...ages/what-is-it.aspx

Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a term that is used to refer to various kinds of injuries to muscles, tendons or nerves.

These injuries are caused by repetitive movement of a particular part of the body.

RSI can also be referred to as upper limb disorder (ULD). This is because the condition often involves the upper part of the body - the forearm, elbow, wrist, hands, and neck.<br><br>Post edited by: Scott_1984, at: 2010/07/07 17:45

What Is Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)/Work Related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD)?: www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/index.cfm?mins=397

Repetitive strain injuries affect hundreds of thousands of workers every year in Britain.

RSI covers a wide range of injuries to muscles, tendons and nerves.

Usually hands, wrists, elbows or shoulders are affected.

Knees and feet can also suffer, especially if a job involves a lot of kneeling or operating foot pedals on equipment.

The more common workplace strain injuries are sometimes called Work Related Upper Limb Disorders or WRULDS.

This can lead to permanent disabilities, so must be stopped at an early stage.

There are many different names for these conditions, including: Tenosynovitis; carpall tunnel syndrome; tendinitis; dupuytren’s contracture; epicondylitis or ‘tennis or golf elbow’; Bursitis; ‘Housemaid’s knee’ or ‘beat conditions’, and overuse injury.

To prevent strains, however, requires an acknowledgement that workers are not there to provide the flexibility in the system, through contorting and stressing their bodies and brains to cope with poorly designed equipment or systems of work, or through increasing their work rate to accommodate production demands, or because the workforce is too stretched, too cowed or too insecure to complain.

What Is Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)/Work Related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD)?: www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/factsheets/pdf/rsi.pdf

RSI is the term most commonly used in the UK to group together a variety of conditions associated with repeated activities.

There are differing views on what causes it and,
indeed, on whether it is a separately identifiable medical condition.

Our main aim is not to participate in these debates but simply to help the people involved to positive outcomes.

For the purpose of this factsheet we will use the term RSI.

The government’s view of the importance of RSI is reflected in the Health and Safety Commissions Strategy and in the HSE publication HSG60 (rev) revised in 2002, Upper Limb Disorders in the Workplace.

What Is Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)/Work Related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD)?: hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/Repetit...strain_syndrome.html

The term repetitive strain injury (RSI) is generally used to describe a painful condition associated with doing a particular activity repeatedly or for long periods of time.

RSI is often caused by typing or repetitive manual work, for example using vibrating machinery in a factory.

RSI is an umbrella term and covers a number of musculoskeletal problems that affect the upper limbs.

Although the term RSI is used to define this disorder, it does not fully describe this condition which varies widely between affected individuals. These include tenosynovitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow (epicondylitis), Dupuytren's contracture and cramp of the hand (writer's cramp).

They are classed as type 1 RSI.

Type 1 RSI includes recognised conditions that your doctor will be able to diagnose.

For example, tennis elbow is caused by repeatedly using your arm in a twisting movement.

This can damage the tendons in your elbow, making the outside of your elbow painful.

Type 2 RSI means that your doctor can't find anything unusual when you are examined or that the pain you have doesn't stay in one particular area.

This is also known as non-specific or diffuse pain.

It's less clear how to treat this and there is little scientific evidence about which treatments are effective.

There are different stages of RSI and if treated early enough, it may be possible for you to make a full recovery.

It's harder to treat if your symptoms have gone unchecked for a while.

You may also be more likely to experience further injury as a result.

What Is Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)/Work Related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD)?: www.webword.com/interviews/wright.html

The term \&quot;repetitive strain injury (RSI)\&quot; is a general, umbrella term covering a host of injuries that all have a similar cause: excessive wear and tear on the soft tissues of the body (tendons, nerves, circulatory system, etc.).

While descriptive of its suspected cause, RSI tells little about what is damaged and the corrective measures needed to heal the injury.

Specific examples of injuries typically considered RSIs include tendonitis, tenosynovitis, epicondylitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome, etc.

Other similar terms to RSI that you might see include:

*CTD - Cumulative Trauma Disorder

*MSD-Musculoskeletal Disorders

*OOS - Occupational Overuse Syndrome

*RMI - Repetitive Motion Injury

*UEMSD - Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorder

*WRULD - Work-Related Upper Limb Disorders.