Dealing With a Repetitive Stress Injury
Stress injuries are often the most serious and difficult injuries to deal with, especially when you are suffering from a repetitive stress injury. By not dealing with a repetitive stress injury properly you can end up doing serious damage to your body and even cause permanent problems.
What it is
The term repetitive stress injury is one that is given to a group of conditions that are caused as a result of too much stress being placed on a joint. This occurs when an action that is stressful to a joint is repeated frequently and when the area is not given the necessary time to recover. In turn the area becomes irritated and inflamed and feels painful and sore.
There are certain warning signs that may present themselves at the onset of a repetitive stress injury, but having pain in one specific area is usually the first telltale sign that there is a problem. The area on the body will usually be red and swollen and uncomfortable to move, and it may even wake you up during the night.
How to Deal With it
A repetitive stress injury can be agonizingly painful and so it is important to learn how to properly deal with this condition. The first step is to have a physical examination performed by your doctor, and treatment will then be done as promptly as possible in order to reduce the pain and swelling and keep the problem from getting worse.
This will allow you to carry on with your day to day activities rather than having to put a hold on your life just to stay out of pain. The goal of treating repetitive stress injuries is to relieve the pain and swelling and prevent future problems, and it is going to be essential for you to have an active involvement in terms of the treatment of your condition.
There are also certain prescription medications that are commonly recommended for the treatment of repetitive stress injuries, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs being the most popular. These are drugs that help to reduce inflammation, irritation and swelling, and although they are very effective at relieving symptoms of the condition they are not suggested for long term use.
Cortisone is often prescribed if the swelling does not go away and you are still experiencing problems, the most common form of cortisone being prednisone which is taken in pill form. There are many possible side effects however which is why persons taking this drug must be carefully monitored and the only reason this drug is prescribed is to help ease the pain until a long term solution is found and the condition itself has been properly treated.
