Help - Therapist with RSI

[.Me.]

I am a massge therapist and started to have problems in my left wrist 4 weeks ago from RSI. This has now spread up my arm to my shoulder and now my right wrist is causing me problems too. I am massaging it. icing it, straping it and using a novasonic device ( a sort of ultra sound) on it. Any suggestions - do you think an osteopath might be able to help? I am desperate as it is getting worse and my sleep is now badly effected by the shoulder pain. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Bleekaboo]

Hi there, sorry to hear that. Its important to get this sorted as soon as possible, or the problem will no doubt spread. I dont think an osteopath would be able to help with your problem. What it sounds like you need is some work in your rotator cuff and rhomboid areas, as you will probably find there are some active trigger points there. Find a good sports/remedial masseur, and get agood treatment on it.

Also its quite important to protect your future, so I would recommend that you learn the 'injury prevention' massage techniques, as these really do allow you to give good massages without having to rely on your hands.

If you want more information let me know, and I will send you details. It is a small outlay, for what could be, an extended career.

All the best

Richard

 

[Ali See]

Dear Anne

Sorry to hear you are having problems with RSI - I have heard many similar tales from other massage therapists in the past - and one of the therapists told me that acupuncture really helped her continue with massage. It is a huge warning signal to take more care of your body and to adequately rest up now so you do not cause any more damage. I am an aromatherapist also and have been practising for 17 years - they only way to work in this field in a sustained way is to find out ways of massaging that does not depend on hands alone - you could look into a technique that does not solely use the hands. This, I know has extended the working careers of quite a few therapists who would have otherwise given up.

Good luck

Binah

 

[Sunitha T]

Hi Anne,

Really sorry to hear about your injury.

I agree with everyone's advice about prevention, but personally I think before you choose whether to go with remedial massage or acupuncture or anything else, you need to have it properly diagnosed by someone qualified do diagnose. I say that because RSI is an umbrella term that includes conditions ranging from carpal tunnel syndrome to tendinitis. Knowing which type of "RSI" it is and specifically which muscles are affected is the first step in discerning what the most appropriate treatment should be. I say all this as a remedial massage therapist myself. I always refer cases of suspected RSI for a proper clinical diagnosis before I treat. Who is qualified to diagnose this type of injury? Osteopaths and physiotherapists.

Hope it all works out.
Kind regards

Henry
[link=http://www.purehands.co.uk]www.purehands.co.uk[/link]

 

[mom2one]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I have started treatment today for it but don't want to say anymore than that at the moment. Basically it is really important that this is sorted for me and I don't want to jinx anything. Sorry - I know it sounds daft to say that, but I will let you know how I get on.
I really appreciate the replies and will let you know my progress in the next couple of days.
Thank you

 

[natalie.anastasakis]

Hi Aromaannie,
As Sportstherapy has said about the Injury Prevention massage techniques [link=http://www.injuryprevention.org.uk]www.injuryprevention.org.uk[/link] I had a flash back to an email I have recieved - they are doing a seminar tour around UK on an evening to teach some strokes and see if it is something you would be interested in. I have attended a course and could not rave about them enough - maybe go along to one in your area and check it out.

Hope you are feeling better soon
Coop

 

[ykihxlqt]

I'm getting there slowly and have booked 3 weeks off work to help a bit more. The osteopath has definately helped along with cutting my hours so I only see a max. of 4 cliemts a day now. Unfortuntely i don't think the courses will be of that much help to me as the majority of my work is hot stone massage so you have to use your hands to hold the stone! I may be wrong though so let me know if you think so.
Thanks