| What is RSI, Tendonitis and Carpal tunnel syndrome?
Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) occur from repeated physical movements
doing damage to tendons, nerves, muscles, and other soft body tissues.
Occupations ranging from meatpackers to musicians have characteristic
RSIs that can result from the typical tasks they perform. The rise
of computer use and flat, light-touch keyboards that permit high
speed typing have resulted in an epidemic of injuries of the hands,
arms, and shoulders. Use of pointing devices like mice and trackballs
are as much a cause, if not more so. The thousands of repeated keystrokes
and long periods of clutching and dragging with mice slowly accumulates
damage to the body.
The term Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) is not, in itself, a medical
diagnosis. It is used to describe a number of named musculoskeletal
conditions (such as Tenosynovitis, Cramp of the Hand, Tendonitis,
etc.) as well as 'diffuse RSI' which is more difficult to define
but which recent research attributes to nerve damage. These are
almost always occupational in origin. 'Repetitive Strain Injury'
is a term similar to that of 'sports injury' in that it tells more
about how the injury was sustained, rather than what the injury
actually is. This condition refers to the tender swelling of tendons,
the rope or cord like structures which connect muscles to bones
in order to work the joints of the body. When any group of tendons
are overused microscopic tears can result, leading to inflammation.
Even a minor contraction in the muscle can then lead to further
irritation.
Tendonitis more commonly affects the hand, wrist, elbows and shoulders,
although it may occur at any joint in the body. Other conditions
may be linked to inflammation of the tendons, such as Tenosynovitis.
Tendonitis results in pain and local tenderness. The thickening
and scarring may prevent the affected fingers or limbs from going
through their normal range of movements. The increase in pain and
disability is usually gradual, unless the injury is the result of
sudden strain (tearing) or a direct blow. The most common recognisable
factor is overloading the tendon through repetitive physical activity.
Certain sports may cause discomfort and at work it can occur from
overuse of the keyboard, computer mouse or through routine assembly
line work.
The carpal tunnel is a passageway in the wrist formed by the eight
carpal (wrist) bones, which make up the floor and sides of the tunnel,
and the transverse carpal ligament, a strong ligament stretching
across the roof of the tunnel.
Inside the carpal tunnel are tendons which run down from the muscles
in the forearm and work to flex your fingers and thumb. Also running
through the tunnel is the median nerve, a cord about the size of
a pencil, supplying information back to the brain about sensations
you feel in your thumb, index, middle and (occasionally) ring fingers.
In carpal tunnel syndrome the median nerve gets squeezed, often
because the tendons become swollen and overfill the tunnel. The
median nerve within the carpal tunnel is very sensitive to pressure
and so there are many possible causes including arthritis, fluid
retention and diabetes. If the problem comes on during the day it
is important to look for a link to regular physical activities at
work or home, for example; writing, typing, using a computer mouse,
DIY, housework or knitting. Repeated flexion and extension of the
wrist, as is common in various work activities, can cause inflammation
which puts pressure on the nerve. Work factors which can contribute
to the condition include insufficient breaks and awkward posture.
Magnetic treatment of RSI,Tendonitis and Carpal tunnel
syndrome.
RSI, Tendonitis and Carpal tunnel syndrome are injuries relating
to the stress and overload of tendons and muscles with in the body.
Although most people associate them with the hand, wrist and arm,
RSI can occur anywhere in the body where the is a constant repetition
of an action. This type of strain injuries are usually acute in
natural rather than chronic and can be treated very successfully.
The predominant aim with all of these conditions is to reduce the
inflammation which surrounds the strained tendons, muscles and tissues,
plus renew the damaged soft tissue. Whilst conventional treatments
revolve around using painkillers, rest , splints and even in some
cases (carpal tunnel syndrome) surgery, magnets will work to treat
the inflammation that is causing the condition to continue. Typical
magnetic therapy treatments for these conditions would be:
1)RSI: Wherever the RSI is located magnets must be placed directly
over the strained area. Most commonly straps or wraps are used as
they also provide an element of support as well as magnetic therapy.
For example RSI in the back would be treated with a back support.
As RSI damage is usually limited to soft tissue , muscle and tendons
results can be seen quite quickly as the magnetic field will reduce
the inflammation which is pressing upon the nerve endings with in
a few days ( in most cases).
2)Tendonitis: Predominantly in the arm, this can be treated with
straps placed around the injury or by using high strength magnetic
jewellery. If jewellery is used on the wrist and the injury is in
the elbow or upper arm then the strength of the jewellery must be
strong enough to allow the magnetic field to penetrate all the way
to the injury. As previously discussed a magnetic field weakens
as it moves away from the magnetic source. For this reason the jewellery
should be at least 2,000 gauss/200 m Tesla per magnet.
3)Carpal tunnel syndrome: This is always located in the wrist and
is very easy to treat with a wrist support or a magnetic bracelet.
As with all conditions the magnets must be worn day and night to
be of most benefit, this is particularly important with Carpal tunnel
syndrome as most of the symptoms occur during the night time (pins
and needles, cramp, numbness, swelling).
All three of these aliments are very painful and limit the mobility
of the area that is affected, but they do not have an underlying
disease process such as arthritis or osteoporosis. The damage occurs
as a result of tasks which the sufferer does on a daily basis. This
means that once the symptoms have been resolved the condition is,
in effect, ‘cured’ in such that it will not reappear
until the repetition has again been performed a significant number
of times to cause the condition to reappear. As a result once the
injury has been resolved sufferers can go for long periods of time
with out any symptoms and when symptoms do start to reoccur the
immediate application of magnets will resolve the pain very quickly.
Debbie Shimadry is qualified magnetic therapist and pain nurse
specialist. She appears on several BBC radio stations as an expert
guest on magnetic therapy and is also the managing director of leading
magnetic therapy company worldofmagnets.co.uk. To find out more
on how magnetic therapy can help you, visit magnetictherapyfacts.org.
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