Can I Fail a Physical Exam?
Physical examinations measure your current health to evaluate how to maintain or improve that state by treating any problems. Is it possible to fail this sort of exam, and what could you do about it?
When Your Job is the Cause of Your Repetitive Stress Injury
Injuries are commonplace, whether you’re doing a lot of heavy lifting or sitting behind an office desk, and this has contributed to almost 3 million incidents as recently as 2022 in the private industry alone. Injuries can come from a variety of things, like freak accidents, bodily harm due to hazardous work, or simply doing the same actions over and over again, straining the joints and muscles you use to perform them.
These are commonly known as repetitive stress injuries (also called overuse injuries), and they lead to a lot of issues that affect your work and home life. However, if it is due to work, you need to know how to proceed and understand your options for injury care. Let’s examine this by looking at the common repetitive injuries you get at work, the causes, and what to do if work is responsible.
Residents of the Orangevale or Rancho Cordova, California area coping with stress injuries from work or other sources can find help with Dr. Andrew Nangalama and his experienced medical staff at American River Urgent Care.
Causes and symptoms of injuries at work
This is damage sustained to specific joints and musculoskeletal tissue through repeating the same actions over and over again. You’re at increased risk of these injuries if you exert excess force while performing labor, use the same actions doing things repeatedly, work in awkward positions for long periods of time, put sustained pressure on any given body part, or a combination of these factors.
Types of repetitive stress injuries
This damage develops over a long period of time and can cause you to experience several types of injuries:
- Carpal tunnel syndrome: this affects your hands, causing median nerve compression and leading to problems in your thumb, middle, index, and ring finger
- Epicondylitis: this is an inflammation of the tendons in your elbow on the thumb or pinky side of your elbow, called tennis or golfer’s elbow, respectively
- Trigger finger: inflammation of the flexor tendon in your finger, leading to it being stuck in that position
- Bursitis: your joints have bursa (tiny, liquid-filled sacs) to cushion them, and bursitis causes them to swell and become inflamed
- Tendonitis: tendon inflammation that typically happens in your shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, hips, knees, and ankles
- Shin splints: also known as medial tibial stress syndrome, inflame the muscles and tendons in your shins
- Sprains and strains: the stretching or tearing of ligaments (sprains) or muscles and tendons (strains)
The pain you experience from these problems is often mild and dull, but it can increase and become sharp over time if not managed. They can also cause a loss of range of motion, redness, swelling, tingling, numbness, and muscle or joint weakness.
Options for reporting and treatment
If you have these or other injuries from work-related activity, you can report them and file complaints according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards through online forms, email, fax, mail, phone, or in person.
We manage your injuries with a variety of treatments depending on the specific issues. These can include medications (opioids are only an option if your employer’s policies permit), heat or cold compression, splints, braces, and instructions on how to manage at home.
Repetitive stress injuries can happen to anyone, and if you’re dealing with it at work and if you need to have it confirmed and treated, make an appointment with Dr. Nangalama and American River Urgent Care today.
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