How to fight RSI - Part 1, What is RSI

I have developed severe RSI while writing my PhD thesis and it has been getting worse since then because the Job I am doing. Now it has been haunting me for the last 10 years and I have decided enough is enough, I am going to do something about this. 

From now on, I will publish a series of blogs to record my journey of fighting RSI and hopefully this will encourage me and help people who suffer from similar problems.

First thing first, what is RSI?

According the good old Wiki, Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a syndrome incorporating several discrete conditions associated with activity-related arm pain such as edema, tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome, stenosing tenosynovitis, intersection syndrome, golfer's elbow or medial epicondylitis, tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis, radial tunnel syndrome, and focal dystonia.

RSI is also used as an umbrella term for non-specific illnesses popularly referred to as Blackberry thumb, iPod finger, gamer's thumb (a slight swelling of the thumb caused by excessive use of a gamepad), Rubik's wrist or "cuber's thumb" (tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or other ailments associated with repetitive use of a Rubik's Cube for speedcubing), Trigger finger, Stylus Finger" (swelling of the hand caused by repetitive use of mobile devices and mobile device testing.), Raver's Wrist, caused by repeated rotation of the hands for many hours (for example while holding glow sticks during a rave), and others.

Doctors have recently begun making a distinction between tendinitis and tendinosis in RSI injuries. There are significant differences in treatment between the two, for instance in the use of anti-inflammatory medicines, but they often present similar symptoms at first glance and so can easily be confused.

The following complaints are typical in patients who might receive a diagnosis of RSI:

• Short bursts of pain in the arm, back, shoulders, wrists, hands, or thumbs (typically diffuse – i.e. spread over many areas).
• The pain is worse with activity.
• Weakness, lack of endurance.

Now we know what RSI is and it's time to do something about it. 

For those of you who spend too much time Gaming, Facebooking, or masturbating, you don't have to worry. It's just that your body is telling you it's time to get a life, some real friends and a girl friend (or one of those inflatable ones). Believe me, your health is way more important.

For those of us who don't have a choice because we have bills to pay or families to feed, we just have to fight for it. It's an arduous journey and I cannot be sure that we will win but how do we know if we don't try?

OK, let's start our journey.



How to fight RSI - Part 2, Postures
How to fight RSI - Part 3, Ergonomic Accessories-keyboard
How to fight RSI - Part 4, Ergonomic Accessories-Mouse and other pointing device
How to fight RSI - Part 5, Software help tackling RSI