Millions of people suffer from repetitive motion injuries each year. These conditions are often dismissed by traditional medicine or treated with addictive pain medication. One facet of chiropractic care focuses primarily on repetitive motion injuries, and Revive Medical Center restores pain-free mobility to our patients every day. Let’s talk about these injuries, what they are, and how we can help.
What Are Repetitive Motion Injuries?
Repetitive motion injuries cause damage to the body’s soft tissues. The soft tissues affected by repetitive motion are the ligaments, muscles, nerves, and tendons. Repetitive disorders are classified three different ways – cumulative trauma, repetitive stress, overuse – and they are caused by repeating the same motion constantly.
What Are the Specific Repetitive Disorders?
Depending on your repetitive motion, you might suffer from
- Bursitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Ganglion cysts
- Tendinitis
- Tendonitis
- Tennis elbow
- Tenosynovitis
- Trigger finger
Repetitive motion can also affect your back, hips, knees, and ankles.
What Causes Repetitive Motion Injuries?
Obviously, repeating the same motion over and over again will cause an injury, but there are other causes, as well. They include
- Incorrect posture
- Muscle fatigue
- Overexertion
- Unnatural motions
The latter can include twisting your arm irregularly or any other motion that your body is not naturally designed to make.
Where Do Repetitive Motions Occur?
There is a long list of places all over the body where repetitive motions create pain and discomfort. The most common places where these injuries occur include the
- Ankles
- Back
- Elbows
- Feet
- Fingers
- Hands
- Hips
- Knees
- Legs
- Neck
- Shoulders
- Thumbs
- Wrists
Certain conditions, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, can affect more than one area. Carpal tunnel can cause painful hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and affect the back and neck.
What Are the Symptoms of Repetitive Motion Injuries?
The symptoms of these injuries include loss of flexibility numbness, pain, redness and swelling (in some cases), and tingling. It’s important to address the signs of injury as soon as possible, as permanent ligament, muscle, nerve, and tendon damage can occur in untreated cases.
How Does a Chiropractor Treat Repetitive Motion Injuries?
A chiropractor will treat the injury using manipulation and massage to restore blood flow to the affected areas and relieve the pressure the motion is causing on the ligaments, nerves, and tendons. Once the pressure is released, the patient will feel relief from the pain and numbness caused by the injury.
Revive Medical Center in Lawrenceville, GA, can help you with your repetitive motion injury. Call us today to schedule an appointment.
