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What is a Repetitive Stress Injury? RSIs are caused by repeating the same task over and over again, such as constantly clicking your mouse or typing on a computer keyboard for too long. These tasks can cause wear and tear on your body's soft tissues (tendons, nerves, etc). If care isn't taken to rest these body parts, permanent and irreversible damage can result.
There are many kinds of RSI injuries, such as
- Tenosynovitis – which is an inflammation of the tendon sheath
- Tendonitis – the inflammation of a tendon used by the typing action
- Epicondylitis – an inflamed tendon that is attached to the bones at the elbow
- Cubital Tunnel Syndrome – a compression of the ulnar nerve at the elbow near the funny bone
- Thoracic Outlet Syndrome – an affectation of the nerves and blood vessels at the neck & shoulder
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – the most common RSI, is the compression of the median nerve within the carpal tunnel
A little more detail on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), since it is often the most encountered typing injury. The nerves that run through your wrist into your fingers get trapped by the inflamed muscles around them. Symptoms include feeling "pins and needles", tingling, numbness, and even loss of sensation. CTS is often confused for a diffuse condition which may be ignored and remain untreated.
Typing posture can cause problems, always be relaxed when sitting and typing. Keyboard, chair and table ergonomics can help prevention of this malady. And prompt medical treatment is required, should these symptoms persist. For some people, keyboard wrist supports seem to work wonders. If you drop your arms at your side and then lift your hands up at the elbow, you want your keyboard under your hands when your elbows are at about 90 degrees to reduce stress.
Typical warning signs of these injuries include tightness or soreness of hands, wrists and shoulders. Throbbing or sharp pain in typing related parts. Numbness or tingling or burning sensation in joints and fingers and arms. Or a loss of strength in the hands, arms, shoulders or neck. Some of these symptoms may not reveal themselves while at work. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome sometimes starts as hand numbness or tingling while you are trying to sleep. These sensations will increase if you continue the damaging activity, but usually decrease after stopping the task which could be a sign that you need to seek medical attention.
Prevent RSIs by keeping frequently used items within arms reach to reduce the need to strech. Adjusting your chair so that your feet lie flat and thighs are parallel to the floor. Proper support for hands and forearms when using your keyboard, either on a tabletop, with a wrist rest, or the arms of the chair. Avoid bending wrists for any long period of time. Adjust typing style, keyboard position, and posture to avoid striking the keys too hard. Getting up from your desk at regular intervals and walking around for a period of time.
And of course, learn to type with the proper typing tutor. Don't be fooled by fancy brightly colored computer software disks, or by cute dancing animated typing animals. Typing is serious stuff, take it seriously and you will type seriously fast!
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