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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Can you explain how I have hurt myself from a repetitive pain?

    Related Topics
    Back & Neck Pain Complex Regional Pain Syndrome Pain
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    Tim Paine

    Physiotherapist

    About:I completed a Bachelor of Physiotherapy with Honours at the University of Newcastle in 2011. Between completing university and starting work at Mitchell Physiotherapy I … View Profile

    Repetitive injuries are often caused by when we overload a muscle, tendon or a joint. If it does not get the time to heal that it would require before we overloaded again this pain can continue.
    This quite often happens at work because of something you do every day.
    Overloading ourselves without allowing your body to heal causes a breakdown of the tissue. Normally tissue will break down after being overloaded and then regrow and rebuild and will put more in, hence we get bigger muscles after we work hard. In repetitive injuries it does not get time to actually do the healing and the rebuilding phase before we continue to overload it. We get a net effect of more breakdown than building happening and that breakdown causes pain and basically modifies the way everything is working.

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    Dr Andrew Lim

    Chiropractor

    Andrew has a Masters in Chiropractic and his interest in Sports Chiropractic has led him to treat many athletes from junior to elite levels in … View Profile

    Repetitive movements performed over time can cause an accumulation of micro injuries that cause a resultant overloading of the affected tissue. Even the simplest of things performed in a highly repetitious way can cause injury.
    It is thought that over time with repitition, the tissues fatigue and then can not tolerate the stress applied to it, resulting in injury. Also if there is not enough recovery time between movements then the bloodflow/circulation does not allow for the muscle/tendon or ligament to fully recover before another insulting force is applied to the tissue again (and again and again) also resulting injury.
    Particularly after a single injury to tissue, the body heals itself by laying down scar tissue, just as if you were to graze your elbow, there will always be a scar to remind you of the damage. Likewise in your tissues, your body will lay down scar to heal the area as quickly as possible. However scar tissue does not function as well as the original tissue, therefore it may tear easily, fatigue quicker or not allow as much blood flow through to the area and then you have a second injury. The cycle goes on and on until the area can completely by cleared of the scar tissue, or the repitition of stressful forces are alleviated from the tissue.

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