Repetitive Strain Injury: A Bane for Computer Users
1st part of a series.
Lately, I've been feeling some tingling and numbness on my fingers. Also, I fel
t some pain around my elbow joints, specially on the tendon on my forearm. I realized that these are alr
eady symptoms of
Repetitive Strain Injury.
Repetitive Strain Injury or
RSI has be
come a common problem in almost any workplace these days specially among computer users
. As t
he num
ber of computer users continue to grow exponentiall
y the number of persons that will soon be affec
ted with
Repetitive Strain Injury. The fact the younger generation
s have started to use computers at much earlier age and they spend more hours in front of the computer than any other activities makes them more susceptible to this injury. What makes matters worse, very few of the computer users are aware of
RSI and most likely will mistakenly associate the arm pain to other diseases like arthritis.
What is quite alarming, however this health problem is less recognized and most often ignored until it's too late. In order to raise the awareness of computer users of this disabling injury, this article is focused on computer related
RSI. In order to fully recognize what
RSI is and how can a computer user avoid developing it, this article is organized in this manner:
- The first part covers:
- the definition,
- the symptoms of RSI ,
- the effects of RSI once developed.
- and who is at risk
- The second part covers the causes of RSI
- and the third part covers remedy and prevention.
What is RSI or Repetitive Strain Injury?
Repetitive Strain Injury is an injury of the muscular and skeletal system (musculoskeletal system) caused by (as the name implies) repetitive tasks, over exertion, or prolonged or awkward position .
Computer related RSI usually affects any parts, if not all, of the upper body, from the neck down to the lower back including the shoulders down to the wrist. Different areas will actually be affected depending on your work habits.