Acupuncture for Repetitive Strain Injury

How Chinese medicine understands repetitive strain injury

Chinese medicine has long recognised overuse as a cause of illness. A classical text lists the “five taxations”: too much looking, lying down, sitting, standing or walking each wears on a different part of the body. The idea carries over to RSI. Doing the same thing for too long wears on the muscles and tendons, which in Chinese medicine depend on the Liver’s Blood to stay supple.

The common patterns are:

• Qi and Blood stagnation. Tight, sore muscles with fixed, aching or sharp pain that builds through the working day. Treatment moves circulation through the arm, shoulder and neck.
• Liver Qi stagnation. Pain and tension that rise with stress and deadlines, tight shoulders, jaw clenching, headaches and irritability. Treatment eases tension through the whole body, not only the arm.
• Blood deficiency. Tired, weak arms, tingling, cramps and pain that lingers even with rest, often with poor sleep and dry skin. In Chinese medicine the tendons are not being nourished, so treatment also builds you up.
• Wind, Cold and Damp. Stiffness and aching that are worse in the cold, for example in a cold warehouse or near air conditioning. Treatment warms the channels.

Most people with RSI have stagnation from the work and some depletion underneath. When pain has settled in one tendon, the tennis elbow page may also be useful.

What treatment involves

Your first visit at the clinic in Keswick starts with a lot of questions about your job, your hours, your workstation or tools, your breaks, stress, sleep and general health. I look at your tongue and take your pulse. An assessment usually also includes checking the forearm, shoulder and neck for tight, tender areas and testing which movements bring on the pain.

Acupuncture is usually the main treatment. Points are chosen along the forearm, around the shoulder and neck, and elsewhere on the body for your pattern. I treat the whole body at every treatment, not only the area that hurts, so a tight neck or shoulders are always part of it. The aims are to ease pain and let the overworked muscles relax.

Cupping and tuina massage can release the upper back, shoulders and forearms. Moxibustion can add warmth for a Cold pattern. When depletion or stress is a large part of the pattern, Chinese herbal medicine is a formula written for you and dispensed at the clinic.

Treatment works best when the work that caused the strain changes too. Plan on 5–10 treatments to judge progress.

Between visits

• Take micro-breaks. Stop for 30 seconds every 20 to 30 minutes to drop your shoulders, shake out your hands and look away from the screen.
• Set up your workstation. Screen at eye level, elbows by your sides at about a right angle, wrists straight, and the mouse close to the keyboard.
• Vary the task. Switch between jobs, or use the other hand for the mouse for part of the day.
• Stretch and strengthen. Gentle forearm and shoulder exercises from a physiotherapist can help the muscles cope with the load.
• Watch the tension. Notice when your shoulders creep up or you grip too hard, and let go.

When to see your doctor first

See your doctor before starting treatment, or promptly if you are already coming in, if:

• You have numbness, tingling or weakness in the hand that is constant or getting worse.
• Your hand turns white, blue or cold, or the arm swells.
• The pain wakes you every night, or is severe even at rest.
• A joint is red, hot and swollen, or you have a fever.
• You have neck pain with pain, tingling or weakness running down the arm.
• The pain is spreading, or you cannot do your job.