Repetitive Stress Injury
Repetitive stress injury (RSI) is often the cause for wrist pain. It can occur at any time and affect any one in today’s modern world. Your hands are critical to for basic survival, work, communication, recreation and even creative expression. Any injury to your hand or wrist can have a widespread negative impact on your daily life and the healing process can sometimes elude you. Since many of our daily activities and interactions involve repetitive movements (texting, typing, or computer use), repetitive stress injury can result. Many wrist problems such as carpal tunnel, de quervain’s tendinitis and wrist tendonitis are due to repetitive stress. You can read more about carpal tunnel syndrome here in the recent blog I wrote. Yoga can be quite beneficial in providing relief from wrist pain due to RSI.
Wrist Pain and Repetitive Stress Injury
Wrist pain due to RSI occurs from the continuous and excessive stress placed on the structures in the wrist. Many time poor postural habits and well as poor workplace ergonomics contribute to RSI. There are many problems that poor posture can cause that I covered in last week’s blog on neck pain. But when the shoulders and upper back don’t provide the strong support a
as a base for the arm movements then extra stress is placed on the smaller joints of the hand and wrist. This can cause wrist pain by requiring these smaller joints to do more work than they are designed for. In addition, the poor postural alignment can also constrict the nerves and blood vessels in the arms which can lead to further issues and wrist pain. Yoga can help wrist pain and assist in the healing of RSI in the wrists by improving alignment in the upper body and increasing the flexibility in the wrist with better support and guided movements. Yoga further helps us to engage in our daily activities with less stress and improved movement patterns. It addresses the causes of injury by slowing down and observing ourselves and our habitual patterns. Then we can develop new patterns of movement that are more conscious and healthier for us.
Wrist Stretch Yoga Pose
The wrist stretch yoga pose will help to alleviate wrist pain due to RSI by opening up the tight structures in the wrist, elbows and shoulders that have become tight from repetitive movements. It also will help to promote improved posture and strengthen the upper back to provide a strong stable base for the hands to work from. Click here to watch the video of the wrist stretch yoga pose.
Yoga Can Help You Heal
Yoga has been shown to be an effective method to help your body heal itself naturally. At Flex Physical Therapy, we are experts in using proven yoga poses to help our patient’s heal from repetitive stress injury and wrist pain. We have a hand specialist who is specially trained to treat all elbow, wrist, and hand injuries. We also offer regular yoga classes on Tuesday/Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. Click here for information on our Yoga classes. Do not let your wrist pain become chronic as chronic pain is directly linked to increased rates of cancer and depression. Contact us now at 1-800-930-8803 and start you way to living a healthier and more balance life today!
Nutritional Aids for Fibromyalgia
In addition to a balanced and healthy diet, there are nutritional supplements that you can take to help with your fibromyalgia symptoms. Here is a list of those supplements from the Fibromyalgia Network.
- Magnesium/Malic Acid/B Vitamin Complex- Malic acid helps the muscle with energy. It is broken down in the muscle which is aided in this process by magnesium and B vitamins.
- Omega 3 Fatty Acids- These oils have excellent anti-oxidant properties. They neutralize the chemical that can harm the cell membranes. Omega 3 also protects the cardiovascular system.
- Anti-oxidants (Vitamins E and C)- Anti-oxidants counteract the effects of free radicals which are the toxins that can breakdown and damage your cells.
- Melatonin and Valerian- Melatonin can help to regulate your body’s internal clock to improve your sleep. Valerian is a herb that may have sedating properties to help you go to sleep easier.
- 5-HTP- Helps to increase brain serotonin to improve mood and sleep.
- Acetyl L-Carnitine- May help to ease pain and decrease fatigue.
Fibromyalgia is a real and painful condition. It limits a person’s ability to be active and robs them of the ability to enjoy life to the fullest. Try the treatments that I have discussed. You should always consult with your physician before starting any physical activity and with any nutritional supplements to make sure there are no interactions with your current prescribed medications. At Flex Physical Therapy, we offer many of the alternative nondrug treatments such as Yoga classes, massage therapy, 830Laser, and physical therapy. We are experts in helping those with fibromyalgia manage their symptoms. Call us at 1-800-930-8803
