LIFE> Health
|
LIFE> Health
|
|
Pressing need to beat RSI
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-04 09:17
Repetitive strain is a creeping threat for any 21st century computer user. Steady mouse clicking may seem innocent but many computer users find that pain starts in their arm and eventually spreads to their wrist and shoulder. In the days of the good old typewriter, people suffered from so-called writer's cramp and although the phrase has since disappeared, the problem still applies to anyone who spends hours at a desk. "Anyone who hunches over a computer and makes a series of short, quick movements risks a painful inflammation of the lower arm and its musculature," says Nils Graf Stenbock-Fermor, of the German Orthopaedic Association. Nowadays, this is known as Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Orthopaedist Oliver Dierk says the problem routinely spreads to the entire arm, through the shoulder and up to the neck. The affliction went unnoticed for a long time but as it gained notoriety more people have begun recognizing its symptoms. "Women are more susceptible than men but it usually depends on a person's career," says Ursula Marschall, a doctor and head of a special clinic that works with a German health insurer. |
