Repetitive strain or stress injuries (RSIs) are a major problem for many people, including workers of all sorts.
But what exactly are these injuries? How can they impact a person? What are the lasting effects?
Fields prone to RSIs
Cleveland Clinic takes a look at repetitive strain injuries. These injuries happen in cases where a person performs the same action with the same body part repeatedly over a period of time. Typically, these injuries will appear after months or even years of repetition. In some cases, however, it may only take days or even hours depending on how strenuous the activity is.
Many varying fields require an employee to perform the same tasks. Because of this, many different fields have a risk of RSIs occurring, too.
As an example, some of the many fields prone to RSIs among workers include receptionists, teachers, cashiers, bankers, surgeons, chefs, physical therapists, auto mechanics, assembly line workers and surgeons.
The primary problem with RSIs
As you can see, the spread is quite wide and varied. Just about anyone who ends up in a physical field of work will deal with some potential risk of an RSI at some point.
The biggest risks of RSIs come during their healing time. The only true way to treat an RSI is by getting the appropriate amount of rest and avoiding the activity that caused the RSI in the first place.
Of course, many people do not have this option as they have limited paid time off. But overworking an RSI can just lead to further damage, even necessitating surgery in some cases.
