Repetitive Motion Injuries
How We Can Help You for Repetitive Motion Injuries
Repetitive motion injuries are caused by daily activities you do over and over, like clicking a computer mouse, using a screwdriver, or lifting heavy objects.
The orthopaedic and sports medicine specialists of Stanford Health Care have the training and experience needed to precisely diagnose and effectively treat repetitive motion injuries.
Our team members work closely together to develop a complete care plan customized to your condition and unique needs. The goal of the plan is to help relieve your symptoms, which may include pain, stiffness, and swelling.
Beyond relieving symptoms, your personalized care plan is designed to help you feel better and build strength so you can resume your daily activities.
Stanford patients with repetitive motion injuries also may have opportunities to participate in research studies of new treatment approaches not yet available anywhere else.
What We Offer You for Repetitive Motion Injuries
- Center of Excellence for advanced care of repetitive motion injuries and the full spectrum of orthopaedic conditions.
- Nationally recognized expertise in treating all cases of repetitive motion injuries, no matter how complex.
- Precise diagnosis including a thorough physical exam plus use of the latest imaging technology and other diagnostic tests.
- Team-based treatment planning that brings together orthopaedic specialists, sports medicine specialists, physical therapists, and others to tailor care to your needs.
- Advanced treatment options emphasizing noninvasive approaches whenever possible, including physical therapy, braces or splints, and medication therapy. If necessary, we also provide state-of-the-art, minimally invasive surgical procedures performed by highly specialized surgeons.
- Comprehensive support services including care coordination from diagnosis to treatment to follow-up.
- Active research program to develop new diagnostic and treatment advances for the management of repetitive motion injuries.
Treatment for Repetitive Motion Injuries
Repetitive motion injuries—also called repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) or overuse injuries—result from repeatedly making the same motion. These injuries most often affect the upper body and limbs, including your wrists, hands, forearms, elbows, and shoulders. But people, especially athletes, also experience overuse injuries in their knees and ankles.
Repetitive motion injuries often come from daily work or other activities that you must continue, like clicking a mouse, using a screwdriver, or lifting heavy objects. A doctor or physical therapist can recommend activity modifications to help you protect your body.
Stanford’s orthopaedic and sports medicine specialists pinpoint the underlying cause of a repetitive motion injury. Then, our team designs an individualized rehabilitation program to help you feel better, regain strength, and get back to your daily activities.
Stanford’s experts assess overuse injuries and deliver personalized rehabilitation to relieve your pain and rebuild function, with or without surgery.
Nonsurgical Treatment
Surgery
Most of the time, nonsurgical treatment resolves a repetitive strain injury. Your doctor may recommend a repetitive motion injury rehabilitation program that includes:
Physical therapy
Stanford’s orthopaedic physical therapists assess your injury and recommend a customized exercise plan for you. With therapy, you stretch and strengthen your injured muscles, tendons, and ligaments to relieve pain and help you recover. Specialized hand therapists or occupational therapists teach you new ways to perform your usual activities to avoid further injury.
Braces or splints
Your doctor or therapist can recommend appropriate elastic braces or supportive splints to support, compress, or immobilize the injured area. These devices can relieve pain and support your body as you heal.
Pain management
Ice packs (to reduce inflammation) or a heating pad (to increase blood flow) may help your injury feel better. Your doctor may recommend nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin or ibuprofen, or muscle relaxants to relieve pain and help you sleep. Doctors sometimes prescribe certain types of antidepressants to ease nerve pain.
Ergonomic changes
Ergonomics is the study of using proper form for work-related tasks and tools. Your doctor or physical therapist can suggest changes to the way you use tools, equipment, and technology to protect yourself from injury.
Different activities
Your physical therapist or doctor can talk with you about your routine and suggest ways to vary your actions to protect your body. A cross-training regimen can help you stay active while avoiding overuse injuries.
Steroid injections
For inflammation (redness and irritation) in a specific area because of a condition such as carpal tunnel syndrome or tennis elbow, your doctor may suggest a corticosteroid injection. Steroid injections reduce swelling, inflammation, and pain in the area of the injection. Doctors use steroids sparingly because overuse can weaken ligaments.
Most repetitive motion injuries heal without surgery. In some cases, though, your doctor may recommend surgery if other treatments haven’t helped. Surgery can correct specific problems with tendons or nerves that are related to a particular condition.
Your doctor might recommend surgery to:
- Repair a badly torn ligament, muscle, or tendon
- Relieve pressure on a painful nerve, as with surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome
- Release tight or thickened tissue that causes pain and stiffness, as with surgery for Dupuytren’s contracture
Stanford’s surgical team includes highly specialized hand surgeons with the expertise to provide precise surgery in tiny, delicate, nerve-containing regions.
Most of the time, nonsurgical treatment resolves a repetitive strain injury. Your doctor may recommend a repetitive motion injury rehabilitation program that includes:
Physical therapy
Stanford’s orthopaedic physical therapists assess your injury and recommend a customized exercise plan for you. With therapy, you stretch and strengthen your injured muscles, tendons, and ligaments to relieve pain and help you recover. Specialized hand therapists or occupational therapists teach you new ways to perform your usual activities to avoid further injury.
Braces or splints
Your doctor or therapist can recommend appropriate elastic braces or supportive splints to support, compress, or immobilize the injured area. These devices can relieve pain and support your body as you heal.
Pain management
Ice packs (to reduce inflammation) or a heating pad (to increase blood flow) may help your injury feel better. Your doctor may recommend nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin or ibuprofen, or muscle relaxants to relieve pain and help you sleep. Doctors sometimes prescribe certain types of antidepressants to ease nerve pain.
Ergonomic changes
Ergonomics is the study of using proper form for work-related tasks and tools. Your doctor or physical therapist can suggest changes to the way you use tools, equipment, and technology to protect yourself from injury.
Different activities
Your physical therapist or doctor can talk with you about your routine and suggest ways to vary your actions to protect your body. A cross-training regimen can help you stay active while avoiding overuse injuries.
Steroid injections
For inflammation (redness and irritation) in a specific area because of a condition such as carpal tunnel syndrome or tennis elbow, your doctor may suggest a corticosteroid injection. Steroid injections reduce swelling, inflammation, and pain in the area of the injection. Doctors use steroids sparingly because overuse can weaken ligaments.
close Nonsurgical Treatment
Most repetitive motion injuries heal without surgery. In some cases, though, your doctor may recommend surgery if other treatments haven’t helped. Surgery can correct specific problems with tendons or nerves that are related to a particular condition.
Your doctor might recommend surgery to:
- Repair a badly torn ligament, muscle, or tendon
- Relieve pressure on a painful nerve, as with surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome
- Release tight or thickened tissue that causes pain and stiffness, as with surgery for Dupuytren’s contracture
Stanford’s surgical team includes highly specialized hand surgeons with the expertise to provide precise surgery in tiny, delicate, nerve-containing regions.
close Surgery
Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are research studies that evaluate a new medical approach, device, drug, or other treatment. As a Stanford Health Care patient, you may be eligible to participate in open clinical trials.
Open trials refer to studies that are currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but similar studies may open in the future.
What Are Repetitive Motion Injuries?
Our Clinics
Stanford’s orthopaedic and sports medicine specialists include physical therapists who design a personalized rehabilitation program to help you recover from a repetitive motion injury. If you need surgery for overuse injuries, our experienced surgical team includes hand and ankle specialists.
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450 Broadway StreetRedwood City, CA 94063
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