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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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The End To My Struggle With RSI Pain
I've been meaning to write a column on this issue for over a year now, but it kept slipping my mind. A recent thread in the forums reminded me how much I wanted to share my personal triumph over RSI with all of you, because if there's one thing we all have in common, it's probably RSI issues. "Personal triuph" - that sounds like a made for TV movie idea. :roll:
If you spend a great deal of time in front of a computer without moving, the result is inevitable. Repetative strain injuries plague the computing industry, and have ended more than one promising career, but there's a solution that just might work for you - and it doesn't involve going under the knife. I swore I wouldn't do another "medical" off topic post after what happened with the Aspartame thread, but this time I'm speaking from personal experience, and if only a few of you are freed from RSI pain, it's worth any of the flames I'll get. :wink: I've struggled with RSI (repeatative strain injury) problems for 11 years now - imagine getting RSI when you're 17...that was me! I've had the burning sensation in my arms and wrists, the sharp stabbing pain, the numbness, the throbbing ache, all of it. Some days I was so bad I could barely type on a keyboard - it felt like my nerves were dysfunctional. My grip was weak, my hands felt clumsy. If any of that describes your problems, please keep reading.
NOTE: I am not a doctor, nor a medical health care professional. Nothing in this article should be taken as medical advice - instead, this is my story of how I found a solution to my struggle with RSI. If nothing else, I hope this will encourage you to look into ART therapy and discover if it can help you.
What Caused RSI for Me
Too much time at a computer is the cause, but the real problem is that we're using one set of muscles and not the opposing set - something fundamentally opposite to the way we were biologically designed to function. I've read that, over time, people with serious RSI can even end up with one arm being slightly shorter than the other - the muscles' length is actually altered because they're so out of balance. RSI problems are slowly debilitating the computer industry: the price of RSI problems has been estimated as high as $110 billion per year in lost productivity, therapy treatments, and workers compensation.
In an effort to find a cure for my problems, over the past decade I've tried massage, physiotherapy, Craniosacral therapy, accupressure, chiropractic treatments, wrist braces, magnets, copper bracelets, electro-pulse muscle therapy, electronic muscle massagers, herbal supplements to reduce swelling, and a few other crazy things. I've tried new chairs, new desks, new keyboards, new mice, new tablets. Everything helps a little, but only for a short time - because I'm only treating the symptoms, not the problem. I've managed to avoid the surgery though, thankfully.
What's The Solution To RSI?
It's so simple it's laughable, but I swear to you it's the solution to all sorts of RSI problems. I'm not a doctor or a physical therapist, but I've spent a good portion of my life researching this, only finding the "cure" in the past two years. And it's not really a cure, because it's something you need to keep doing. It's a treatment that you can do yourself in your own home or workplace, and for me, it cured a decade of RSI problems.
The solution? Stretch.
That's right, get out of your chair, move around, and stretch. The overall solution is a little more complex than that, but that's the essence of the solution: move those muscles.
The Magic Bullet: Active Release Technique
Odds are, if you have a problem serious enough to notice, you'll need a little help getting the muscles working properly. That's where an amazing muscle therapy technique comes into play: Active Release Technique.
It's a treatment developed by chiropractors primarily for athletes, and I can honestly say there's nothing like it. Essentially, the chiropractor puts pressure on a certain muscle, then has you move through a range of motions. As you move that muscle, it attains a range of motion it lost. That in turn reduces the inflammation and pain by breaking up the scar tissue that has built up, causing the discomfort. The treatment itself is a little painful, but after a few weeks of regular treatments, the difference is amazing. I've had a few people I know go in for treatments, and they've all made full recoveries. Here's a great description of this technique from the official ART Web site:
"Upon an initial injury (micro-trauma to severe) the first process to take place is inflammation. This process sets off a whole cascade of events leading to fluid accumulating in the surrounding tissues and cells migrating to the injured area to begin tissue repair. This fluid build up and release of chemicals leads to increased tissue pressure and pain as well as the process of scar tissue formation. When scar tissue is laid down as part of the repair process it leads to increased friction in the tissues as they aren't permitted to freely glide. This friction leads to more inflammation and the cycle repeats. In chronic conditions the scar tissue also leads to poor circulation thereby promoting more adhesions in the area.
When scar tissue is left there over time it begins to contract more and more until it becomes like "crazy glue" where simple stretches, massage, physical therapy and even chiropractic can't break it up. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonitis and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced ranges of motion, loss of strength and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness and weakness. At this point the medical profession would warrant surgery leaving unwanted scars with minimal success and months of rehab. Active Release can restore this normal motion and tissue structure without the unwanted side effects."
ART Is Only The First Step
Now once you go for a few of these treatments, it's up to you to keep the muscles in good shape. Here's where the stretching comes in. Your ART therapist will give you a complete range of exercises to do, but there's one that, for me, if I don't do it twice a day, I can tell because all the symptoms come back in short order.
This is what I do two to four times a day: stand perpendicular to a wall with your left shoulder about a foot away from the wall (you should not be facing the wall). Take your left hand and place it behind you, palm on the wall with your fingers spread out, then lean forward with your upper torso. You should feel a deep stretch in your shoulder and down your arm. Don't push forward too hard, but it should be enough to really feel it. You can also lift your chest upwards for a deeper stretch. Hold this for 30 seconds, then reverse and do the other arm (right shoulder to the wall, right hand behind you). Do the same thing, only with your arm up at a 45 degree angle (it's behind and above you). You can also do the same thing with your hand pointed 45 degrees down. There are other great stretches you can do, but I find that this one is the best for me - 120 seconds twice a day is all it takes to keep me pain-free.
And There You Have It
I'm no doctor, but I can speak from my personal struggles: this solution worked for me when nothing else did. If you struggle with RSI problems of any type, I'd urge you to go find a qualified ART practitioner and seek out treatment. It was the best decision I've ever made, because it gave me back my career, and to a large degree, my life.
If you've found this article to be helpful, please forward it to people you know who may be suffering from RSI pain.
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