Facing Stress Injuries: Common Diagnosis

Fitness and exercise are big parts of our lives. However if we are not careful, we can cause damage to ourselves. The number of stress-related injuries are growing. The repetitiveness of exercise and work can create irritation as well inflammation in our tendons, muscles, and joints. Now you are probably asking yourself what is a stress injury? Well you are not alone. Those of you who have not been diagnosed with a stress injury before may not know what to look for so below are some signs and symptoms:

Symptoms:

Swelling of the affected area

Redness

Increased temperature in affected area

Tender to the touch

Pain in an isolated area

There are several areas that can be effected by repetitive stress injury. You can experience these problems at work, at home, at the gym, and even taking a walk. Making sure you understand the what parts of the body is affected and how each area is treated is important. Below you will get the run down of some of the common areas affected by stress injuries.

Biciptal Tendinitis:

Area effected- Tendon which attaches the biceps to the shoulder

The cause of Biciptal Tendinitis- overuse of the tendons can create fishers or tiny tears in the tendons. These tears cause pain and inflammation. Since the irritating exercise is continued the tendon doesn't have sufficient time to heal itself and creates irritation or inflammation.

Treatments: There are several treatments for this type of injury and a guaranteed treatment would be rest of the tendon effected. Additionally anti-inflammatory medications, injections, and exercise are often used to aid in the healing process.

Golfer's Elbow:

Area effected- The tendon that stretches from the forearm to the inside of your elbow.

The cause of Golfer's Elbow- Despite its name Golfer's Elbow or Medical Epicondylitis can effect many people. The use of your elbow in a repetitive manor can create the irritation from Golfer's elbow. It can be caused by sports like, golf, Tennis, Racket Ball, Pitching, Painting, and a boat load of other things.

Treatments: There are several treatments as well for Golfer's Elbow. Rest once again is most common prescription. Additionally you can take over the counter medication to fight the pain like; Motrin, Aleeve, and Advil. Wrapping the elbow will take some of the pressure off the effected area and give you additional relief. However in some sever cases surgery maybe need talk with your physician if you have any questions.

While these are only a couple of the areas which can be effected by repetitive stress to your tendons, and joints you can get a good picture about what needs to be done to treat this condition. Now let us talk about how we can prevent stress injuries.

Below are some good preventative strategies to get you started:

Rest Your Joints and Tendons: If your repetitiveness is at work or a hobby try to give your body the rest it needs to heal. If you know you will be needing to use the tendons again tomorrow relax for the rest of the night. This will allow any developing fishers or tears time to heal.

Use of the Correct equipment or Techniques: Many times the cause of stress related injuries are because improper equipment or techniques were used. To help prevent this always use the right equipment; the right way! Additionally make sure that your techniques are correct to avoid added strain to your muscles, joints and tendons.

Alternate Tasks: if you know you are spending a lot of time doing something repetitive take breaks in between. Rest your joints and avoid repeating the same exercise or movement over and over. This will give your muscle, joints, and tendons time to re-cooperate.

With some help and practice you can learn to prevent your own stress injuries. Making sure you are letting your body rest and doing each activity correctly will help you stay on the right track and avoid added pain. If you would like additional information please visit the following sites.