Frequently asked questions about RSI/OOS

How do I know if I have RSI/OOS?

The symptoms include:

• Burning, aching or shooting pain that can be restricted to small sites, such as fingertips, or settle in a larger area such as the forearm.
• Tremors, clumsiness and numbness.
• Fatigue or lack of strength.
• Weakness in the hands or forearms to the extent that it is difficult to perform even simple tasks such as lifting a bag of shopping.
• Difficulty with normal activities like opening doors, chopping vegetables, turning on a tap.
• Chronically cold hands, particularly the fingertips.

The first signs of an overuse injury may be soreness, tingling or discomfort in the neck, arms, wrists, fingers or shoulders. These symptoms may come on when you do something or appear afterwards. They may disappear when you stop the activity that brought them on. It may take only a few hours for the symptoms to go away, or it may take as long as a couple of days.

What causes RSI/OOS?

Many factors acting together lead to RSI. They include:

• Doing something with your arms repeatedly for too long.
• Working with equipment that doesn’t fit your body.
• Working too fast.
• Not having breaks.
• Holding your muscles in the same position for a long time.
• Lack of training in the safest way to carry out a task.
• Long work hours.
• Lack of variety in the type of work you do.
• Working in cold conditions.

The underlying cause common to all RSI-type conditions is damage to muscles and tendons (and the nerves that run through them) through repeated micro-trauma. Whenever muscles are used, tiny tears can occur in muscle tissue. The local area becomes inflamed for a short time as the body attempts to repair the damage.

Without enough rest, more activity causes further damage and more inflammation, thickening, scar tissue and pain.  Nerves are also damaged by RSI. Tingling feelings are caused by the compression of nerves. Nerves run through muscles, and if muscle health is poor, so is nerve health. Damaged nerves can heal but the process is extremely slow.

I’ve recently been diagnosed with/ think I might have RSI/OOS. What should I do?

Resting the affected area is extremely beneficial to people with RSI, and in the early stages the best treatment is to avoid the aggravating activity and rest the sore bits. However, be sure to get plenty of exercise, as this both aids recovery and maintains fitness. Exercise increases blood circulating to the injured area and helps it to heal.

What is the best treatment for RSI?

Unfortunately, not enough good quality research has been done to determine the best treatments for RSI. However, according to a survey run by the RSI Association, the following treatments are the most effective:

• Rest of the affected area.
• Stretching.
• Deep tissue massage.
• Osteopathy.
• Walking.
• Alexander Technique.
• Meditation.
• Tai Chi .
• Stress management.

Interviewees in Moving on with RSI (RSI Association, 2003) indicated that they had to go in search of treatment options that worked for them and that often meant a period of trial and error.

How long does RSI/OOS last?

RSI usually lasts only a few days or weeks if treated properly in the early stages, but it can affect a person for many years if not treated or diagnosed properly in the beginning (Pascarelli & Quilter, 1994).

How Common is RSI/OOS?

The incidence of RSI is actually increasing. More than 60% of worker’s compensation cases in the USA are for RSI and similar conditions (Quilter, 1998). Although there are no comparable Australia-wide statistics available, eight out of ten computer users in the Australian Public Service reported symptoms of overuse injury (Comcare, 1997).

What kinds of activity cause RSI/OOS?

RSI spans many industries and occupations, including journalists, butchers, hairdressers, musicians, carpenters and cleaners. The highest incidence of RSI occurs in meatworkers. RSI can be also caused by leisure activities such as golf, knitting, video games and playing a musical instrument (Arndt, 1986). In the past when most highly repetitive and/or forceful physical work was done by poorly-paid manual workers. However, now that computers are widely used by white collar workers and managers, RSI is common across all levels of the workforce. Comcare’s 1997 report states that 80% of sales people, 81% of clerks, 86% of professionals and 78% of managers reported mild or severe OOS.

I have heard RSI was invented in Australia in the 1980’s. Is this true?

The name ‘RSI’ may have been coined in Australia in the 1980s, but the conditions associated with it have been known for hundreds of years. It was first described in the 1700s by Italian physician Bernadino Ramazzini as a work-related condition. In 1870 there was an epidemic among British and French telegraphers, in 1911 among Morse key operators, and in 1964 among Japanese keypunchers. The Australian National Occupational Health & Safety Commission’s Interim Report of the RSI Ad Hoc Committee concluded that RSI was not new and not typically Australian (Brennan, 1985).

I have heard RSI is a mental health issue. Is this true?

Arguments for the psychological basis of RSI rest on the idea that people with RSI suffer from anxiety and depression before the symptoms first appear. A 1997 Comcare report into the incidence of Occupational Overuse Syndrome among government employees found that psychological distress was more likely to be a symptom of OOS rather than a cause. As more research is conducted, more evidence of the physical causes of RSI is being published. One researcher managed to create RSI in monkeys by making them work repetitively for their food! (Holmes, 1999).

Are women more likely to get RSI/OOS?

Yes, women are more likely than men to get RSI. However, the difference is small. It is notable that the occupation with the highest incidence of RSI ‑ meatworkers ‑ is dominated by men. The fact that women workers tend to do more work at home using the same muscle groups as at work could explain women’s higher rate (Arndt, 1986).

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