The following is excerpted from Release Your Pain by Dr. Brian Abelson and Kamali Abelson.

Why is RSI a Problem?

Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) have become a major drain on our health care system. RSIs account for over 67% of all occupational injuries, and cost over $110 billion dollars per year in medical costs, lost wages, and productivity (United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001).

Repetitive Strain Injury caused by cumulative trauma has become the most prevalent cause of injuries in the workforce. RSIs are among the most misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and poorly treated conditions.

Common therapies such as medication, physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment, massage, electrical muscle stimulation, rest, exercise, and surgery have all failed to effectively resolve repetitive strain injuries.

Active Release Techniques (ART) provides a means to effectively and rapidly resolve these stressful repetitive strain injuries without surgical intervention, and allows patients to quickly return to their normal activities.

What is a Repetitive Strain Injury?

A repetitive strain injury is a soft - tissue injury in which muscles, nerves, ligaments, fascia, or tendons become irritated and inflamed, usually as a result of cumulative trauma and overuse.

Unlike strains and sprains, which usually result from a single incident (called acute trauma), a repetitive strain injury develops slowly over time.

What Causes a Repetitive Strain Injury?

RSIs can occur in any occupation that requires repetitive action and can be caused through the overuse of some part of your body, and by any combination of the following factors:

Repetitive tasks with many small, rapid movements.
Insufficient rest time between the repetitive tasks.
Working in awkward or fixed postures for extended periods of time.
Excessive and forceful movements, used repetitively, to move loads, or to execute accelerated actions such as lifting, running, hitting, or throwing.
The most common body parts affected by RSI are the fingers, hands, wrists, elbows, arms, shoulders, legs, ankles, feet, knees, back, and neck. Computer users make up a large percentage of RSI patients and frequently suffer from repetitive strain injuries to the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, and neck.

Who Suffers From RSI?

Individuals who are at high risk for RSI include those who have occupations that:

Combine force and repetition of the same motion, for long periods of time, especially in the fingers and hands.
Require work in awkward or unnatural positions.
Involve static work positions, while using the hands, arms, and shoulders, or where the torso and neck are held in awkward positions.
Combine continuous, precise muscular movements with the above-listed factors.
(U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Days away from work highest for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, April 02, 2001)

Repetitive strain injuries occur in all walks of life including:Assembly line workers, Cashiers, Computer Operators, Computer Programmers, Construction Workers, Dentists, Dental Technicians, Vehicle Operators, Golfers, Hairdressers, Hospital Workers, Homemakers, Massage Therapists, Meat Packers, Postal Workers, Poultry Processors, Nurses, Tennis and Racquet Sports Players, Runners, Triathletes, Weight Lifters.

The Specifics of RSI

A serious repetitive strain injury can develop within weeks after symptoms first appear, or it may take years. A repetitive strain injury is characterized by symptoms such as: Aching, Tenderness, Swelling, Pain, Tingling and Numbness, Loss of Strength, Loss of Joint Movement, Decreased Coordination.

In general, your injury is more serious if the symptoms:

Are more intense.
Are experienced frequently.
Last longer with each occurrence.
It is important to realize that symptoms:

May appear in any order and at any stage during the development of a repetitive strain injury.
May not appear during or immediately after the activity that is causing the problem.
Are not necessarily experienced in the body part where the actual stress is occurring.
How do RSIs Show Themselves?

Friction, Pressure, or Tension
Weak and Tight Tissues
Decreased Circulation and Increased Edema
External Forces
Adhesions and Fibrosis
Cellular Hypoxia— Describes a lack of oxygen to soft-tissues that occurs whenever there is restricted circulation. Hypoxia causes fibrosis and results in the formation of adhesions between tissues.
Types of Repetitive Strain Injuries

There are numerous types of Repetitive Strain Injuries, with some of the most common being:

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) - Manifests as numbness and tingling of the hand, wrist pain, a pins-and-needles feeling at night, weakness in the grip, and lack of coordination.

Achilles Tendonitis - Manifests as inflammation in the tendons of the calf muscle at the point where the tendon attaches to the heel bone. Achilles Tendonitis causes pain and swelling at the back of the leg near the heel, and over the actual Achilles tendon.

Back and Neck Injuries - Manifests as pain, inflammation, and tenderness to the nerves, tendons, muscles, and other supporting structures of the back. Back and neck injuries include whiplash injuries, disc problems, sciatica, lumbar strains, piriformis syndrome, facet syndrome, and arthritis.

Elbow Injuries - Manifests as inflammation and pain on the inner and outer portions of the bony prominences known as the medial epicondyle and lateral epicondyle. Initially, it is the tendons that attach the muscles to these areas that become inflamed and injured. Common elbow injuries include Tennis Elbow and Golfer's Elbow.

Plantar Fascitis - Manifests as inflammation, localized tenderness, or pain at the plantar fascia, which is a structure that stretches under the sole of the foot and attaches at the heel.

Shoulder Injuries - Common shoulder injuries include Rotator Cuff Syndrome, Frozen Shoulder, Tendonitis, and impingement syndromes.