What You Can Do About Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries
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What You Can Do About Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries - Philip Johansson
Acknowledgments
The author expresses his sincere gratitude to Dr. Jody E. Noe, Brad Hurley, and Joan Carey for their careful reading of the manuscript and their many helpful comments. Many thanks also to Louisa Mann and Jon Lauden, at the Neighborhood Schoolhouse, for taking the time to read and comment on it. I am grateful to my many photogenic subjects, for allowing their photographs to appear in this book, and to Jane, for the story of her experience with RSI. This book is dedicated to Allie, who also knows what it feels like.
Published in 2016 by Enslow Publishing, LLC
101 W. 23rd Street, Suite 240, New York, NY 10011
Copyright © 2016 by Philip Johansson All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Johansson, Philip.
What you can do about carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries / Philip Johansson.
pages cm. — (Contemporary diseases and disorders)
Audience: 12-up.
Audience: Grade 7 to 8.
Summary: Describes the conditions of carpal tunnel and other repetitive strain injuries, the latest research, and treatment options
—Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7660-7034-9
1. Carpal tunnel syndrome—Juvenile literature. 2. Overuse injuries—Juvenile literature. I. Title.
RC422.C26J64 2016
616.85’6—dc23
2015015540
Printed in the United States of America
To Our Readers: We have done our best to make sure all Web site addresses in this book were active and appropriate when we went to press. However, the author and the publisher have no control over and assume no liability for the material available on those Web sites or on any Web sites they may link to. Any comments or suggestions can be sent by e-mail to customerservice@enslow.com.
Portions of this book originally appeared in the book Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries.
Photo Credits: Alila Medical Media/Shutterstock.com, p. 36; ©AP Images, p. 43; bjonesphotography/ Shutterstock.com, p. 16; BSIP/UIG via Getty Images, pp. 28, 59, 71; deeepblue/Shutterstock.com, p. 38; Diego Cervo/Shutterstock.com, p. 33; Fuse/Thinkstock, p. 93; Gelpi JM/Shutterstock.com, p. 31; Hiroyuki Ito/Hulton Archive/Getty Images, p. 57; ©iStockphoto.com/mady70, p. 68; Jason Stitt/Shutterstock.com, p. 10; Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images News/Getty Images, p. 96; Kostenko Maxim/Shutterstock.com, p. 18; Lamarinx/ Shutterstock.com, p. 52; Lexey Swall/The Washington Post/Getty Images, p. 103; MANDY GODBEHEAR/ Shutterstock, p. 89; Marcin Balcerzak/Shutterstock.com, p. 98; Media for Medical/Universal Images Group/ Getty Images, p. 72; Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com, pp. 20, 81; MSPhotographic/Shutterstock. com, p. 49; Nejron Photo/Shutterstock.com, p. 75; Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock.com, p. 45; Philip Johansson, pp. 25, 60, 77; Praisaeng/Shutterstock.com, p. 65; PYMCA/UIG via Getty Images, p. 51; Sebastian Kaulitzki/ Shutterstock.com, p. 3; Volt Collection/Shutterstock.com, p. 84.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Repetitive Strain Injuries at a Glance
1The Gradual Injury
2 Not Just Aches and Pains
3 Sneaky Symptoms
4A Life of Repetition
5Identifying the Strain
6 Stopping the Pain
7 The Injured Society
8 An Ounce of Prevention
9 RSI Tomorrow
Top 10 Questions and Answers
Timeline of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome andOther Repetitive Strain Injuries
Chapter Notes
Glossary
For More Information
Further Reading
Index
WHAT IS IT?
A group of physical ailments of muscles, tendons, and nerves that result from repeated motions or excessive force performed frequently over a long time.
WHO GETS IT?
Anyone can, but most often adults who use repetitive motions in their work or recreation.
HOW DO YOU GET IT?
Repetitive strain injuries develop gradually, after months or years of performing the same motions over and over. Usually the repetitive motions are accompanied by poor posture, too much force, inappropriate positioning, poorly designed tools or workstations, stress, or other related factors.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
Numbness, tingling, pain, or loss of strength usually in the hand, wrist, arm, shoulder, or neck. Many people ignore the first signs of tingling or numbness, which leads to more severe and serious symptoms and irreversible damage. Some people first experience symptoms while they are performing their usual repetitive motion, such as hammering or playing video games. Others first notice symptoms when performing unrelated motions, like opening a jar.
HOW IS IT TREATED?
If caught early enough, a program of rest, gradual rehabilitation, and reconditioning of the affected part can clear up the symptoms. More serious cases are treated with splints, drugs that reduce inflammation, or even surgery.
HOW IS IT PREVENTED?
People who regularly perform repetitive motions must learn how to do them with proper posture and positioning. Short breaks, stretches, recreational exercise, and conditioning exercises can also help avoid repetitive strain injuries.
Daren thought he had the dream job. For someone who grew up playing video games, lots of them, working as senior editor at Games for Windows: The Official Magazine was like landing in gaming heaven. Darren had written for several computer-related magazines before, but now he got to combine his terrific writing skills and knowledge of technology with playing every new PC game that appeared on the scene. When he was not furiously typing out news, reviews, and features, he was pressing the WASD
keys as if his life depended on the outcome of Battlefield 2142 or Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. It never occurred to him that he could have too much of a good thing.
It started with twinges and numbness in his left fingers, the ones he used for gaming on his computer keyboard. One minute, I’m minding my own business—and then, all of a sudden, some renegade digit on my left hand forgets who’s boss,
wrote Darren. The clawed formation my left hand assumes when playing first-person shooters...put me in a world of hurt.
¹ Darren was still young, but he had to pamper his hand like an old man racked by arthritis. Doctors wrapped it up and immobilized it in a freaky voodoo glove
to avoid further damage, and he could barely type out an article. Due to his many, many hours of computer games, combined with even more hours of typing articles for work, Darren suffered from the disorder of monotony: repetitive strain injury.
Repetitive strain injury (RSI) results when muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues become damaged from prolonged overuse, repetitive use, improper use, or a combination of these. Unlike broken bones or torn cartilage, RSI does not require a car accident, football injury, or other grisly trauma. It works quietly and unexpectedly, resulting from repetitive motions as seemingly innocent as throwing a ball, tightening screws, sending