It is commonly thought that Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI’s) are always related to injuries sustained during sports activities, certainly, RSi’s do occur in sports, and are often referred to as Overuse injuries. But this is not always the case

RSI’s can be work related to almost any activity where too much stress is repeatedly placed on the same part of the body. It can even affect a teenager who spends a lot of time on the computer keyboard, and since modern teenagers use computers habitually, the RSI condition is now becoming prevalent in the teens of today.

In the teen, the most commonly affected areas are at the Elbows. Knees, Shoulders and Heels, these are all joint areas of the body where there are Growth Plates. These plates are where the bone cells are rapidly growing at the end of teenage bones to ensure growth,

Some Causes of Repetitive Stress Injury.

When the still young teen joints are stressed repeatedly, they don’t have time to recover, and the joints and surrounding tendons and muscles become inflamed and irritated, some other contributory factors are-

Any job or sport which repeatedly calls for the use of the same body joint can cause teen RSI’s.

a). Continual use of computer keyboard, stressing wrist joints.

b). Scanning items at the supermarket checkout.

c). The repeated pounding of the heel/ankle joints during road or trail running.

d). Stressing the elbow and knee joints whist delivering services at tennis (Tennis

Elbow!)

e). The use of incorrect sportswear, especially shoes.

Because the teens bones are still developing, then periods of spurt growth can make the teen more vulnerable to RSI’s and considering this, the intake of good nutrition is equally important.

Some Symptoms of Teen Repetitive Stress Injury.

a). Any signs of pain, tingling sensation or numbness around the affected joint.

b). A feeling of stiffness or soreness at the back of the neck (stiff neck!)

c). Weakness or excess tiredness in the hands or arms.

d). Sounds of clicking in the affected joint (clicking elbow)

If any of these symptoms are being experienced by the teenager then a doctor should be visited, even if the signs and feelings are intermittent.

Any repetitive stress injury which is neglected can turn into a more serious condition, which may prevent the teen from doing his/her usual daily tasks or participating in future sports or other activities.

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