Gamer with Regrets, Ow, my aching shoulder
Dear Ronny,
My shoulder is killing me. I’m pretty sure it’s from sitting in my recliner and playing Boggle on repeat with my husband every night. What the heck? I am actually in pain from this silly game on my phone. I don’t get it.
Thank you,
Gamer with Regrets
Dear Gamer,
What you are suffering from is a repetitive strain injury?
The term repetitive strain injury is a bucket that holds many different owies. Tennis elbow, Carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis and shin splints all live under the RSI umbrella even though they occur in totally different parts of the body. Unlike many injuries, like a sprain or fracture, RSI are not from one event. Rather, they are slow simmering, built over time. A little inflammation and tenderness, then nothing. It quiets down, and you forget about it. The injury keeps flaring, getting a little worse each time, until eventually it doesn’t quiet down at all. RSIs come from doing the same Motion in the same pattern over and over without enough recovery in between. Our body can handle repeated stress just fine when it gets time to adapt and rebuild, the trouble starts when the repetition outpaces the recovery. Things like typing all day, gripping tools, repeated strikes, scrolling on your phone with your head forward. Add to this fatigue or being under slept, and the tissue never gets the break it needs to catch up.
Can this happen in yoga?
Yoga has a reputation for healing, however even our favorite yoga class is not immune to repetitive strain injuries. Any posture we take that we repeat often, chaturanga, down dog and up dog for example can lead to repetitive strain if your alignment is a little off or if you're compensating for tight or weak muscles elsewhere. For example, if it's our 100th chaturanga of the hour, and our arms are tired or are not paying attention, we may end up with repetitive strain on the front of our shoulders. These little tears become a major pain if we continue to push on them. Think about repetitive strain coming from the thing you do over and over and over in one sitting, rather than the thing you do once every day. For example, in the context of a yoga class, we might do Warrior Two with our arms extended out to the sides at shoulder height once on each side. However, in between those two sides we have the opportunity for two forward bends, a jump forward, a jump back, chaturanga, a back bend and down dog. Furthermore, this same sequence is repeated between each pose we hold once on each side. Now we are talking about some of those poses being done 20 or 30 times in a 1-hour class. Likely we are more present with the poses that we stay in then the ones we quickly transitioned through. We stop paying such close attention to the alignment of chaturanga 15, 16 and 17. Now repeat that three times a week and we could end up with some form of a repetitive strain injury. I'm not saying you shouldn't take those classes, I'm saying to stay present throughout.
It shows up everywhere, not just on the mat
If we overlay this model in other areas in our life, we will likely find many potential culprits. You see, our body is so smart that after a while, we don't have to think about the menial tasks that we perform every day. We don't have to use a lot of brain power to get home from work, wash the dishes, or brush our teeth. This applies to the things we love too. Gardening, playing music, and caring for our children. All of these become so automatic that we stop noticing the fine print: the same forearm rotation on every guitar chord, the same hip we carry a toddler on. Autopilot is efficient. It's also where repetitive strain moves in Because we're too busy running the routine to notice which part of us is doing all the work.
How to prevent one
Change your movements throughout the day. Don't stay locked into one position or one motion for hours on end. Please take breaks! Even short breaks every half hour to shake out your hands and roll your shoulders count. Warm up before repetitive work and cooldown after. Mind your posture and your setup whether that's a desk, a steering wheel or a yoga mat. Continue to check in repeatedly. The practice is always the return to presence, which is in fact your number one tool in prevention. This is where yoga therapy does some of its best work. Yoga builds present moment awareness. Autopilot is efficient; however, its focus is getting the job done, not making sure our bodies are in the right position while getting it done. A regular practice of presence interrupts autopilot.
Yoga also balances strength and flexibility. RSIs tend to show up when one set of muscles is overworked and tight while the opposing set sits unused. A well-built practice strengthens what's weak, releases what’s tight, and evens things back out. Yoga moves you through many directions instead of just one. A full yoga practice takes the body through ranges of motion that a repetitive task does not. Yoga practices also include rest, which might be what your injury really needs to heal.
One last thing
If you are already dealing with pain that has stuck around for more than a couple weeks or you're noticing numbness, weakness or anything sharp, see a doctor or physical therapist first. Yoga therapy works best alongside good medical care.
Until next time, move often, move differently, and pay attention to what your body is telling you.
Signed,
Your yoga therapist, Ronny
