Lisa Sattler's Therapy

December 11, 2000

Lisa Sattler is a therapist in NY. In the following article about RSD, on The RSI Network you get a glimpse of her RSI therapy, excerpted below, which confirms many of the concepts we support.

Lisa M. Sattler, MS, PT, New York City, New York, (212) 838-6847, lsattler erols.com

http://www.ctdrn.org/rsinet/archive/rsinet36-mar99.html

 Shared Aspects of RSD/RSI Treatment

  1. Stretching tight muscles.
  2. Strengthening weakened/stretched posterior thoracic postural muscles slowly-starting with active range of motion (AROM) and building to small weights when compensatory patterns are eliminated.
  3. Ergonomic workstation revision/instrument modification, including typing/playing retraining to avoid injurious habits/tendencies.
  4. Postural retraining, including abdominal muscle strengthening.
  5. Reintegration of large proximal muscles into upper extremity activities, including decreasing compensatory motor patterns to the point of potentially reorganizing old movement patterns, such as:
  6. Upper traps overrecruited for many arm movements;
  7. Scalenes overrecruited for breathing;
  8. Forearm flexors overrecruited for hand-intrinsic muscles.
  9. Slow, structured reintegration of irritating activities-work and nonwork-to include timing all activities that stimulate symptoms or increase symptoms, stopping before the onset of symptoms.
  10. Myofascial release/deep tissue work (physical therapy/occupational therapy). For RSI, this is a temporary measure designed to help increase circulation and improve flexibility during initial phases of treatment protocol. For "mild" RSD, the increased proprioceptive input (feedback from the brain about position of joints) from stimulation of pressure-sensitive receptors in tissue may help to decrease RSD symptoms.
  11. Complementary treatments to augment rehabilitation, decrease pain, and increase circulation. Patients must be aware of their own limitations and continue to modify activities to prevent increased symptoms. These may include:

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