Recovering from repetitive stress injury of the hands/arms

hannamarie88

Due to my job - I have spent the summer recovering from multiple repetitive stress injuries in my hands and arms. Now - I want to get back to working out, but I don't know where to start. Any suggestions? Thank you for your help.

dmillz89

What are your goals? Running? Weights?

Pick a beginner program (couch25k, greyskull LP, ICF) and eat for your goals.

tomatoey

Have you really recovered?

I have similar issues and thought I'd improved after bracing, rest, and therapy - I was ok for almost a year - but I carried groceries home one day and that's all it took for one of those injuries to come back. It so happened that the particular grip I'd used to hold a heavy bag, with my hands in a particular position, was the perfect trigger to wake it up. (And similarly ordinary activities brought back some of the other ones, also after rest & PT.)

Talk to your PT to get an understanding of what kinds of movements likely contributed to the injuries, and how to do upper body movements safely, how much weight is a good idea, etc. (I probably wouldn't rush into lifting heavy weights right away, because it can take longer than you'd think to properly heal.)

If you've had multiple RSIs, it's probably not just down to the way your desk is set up. You now know you're vulnerable, and you need to learn how to protect yourself not only from reinjury but from new injuries, in other parts of the body. A regular program might not be a good fit for you.