Stretching
Stretching is vital to healing a RSI. I have heard one person say that this is scientifically unproven. Whether or not this is true, I know stretching to be effective from personal experience. There are two specific stretches that stretch the arm the best. However, you have to decrease the inflammation significantly before you can safely stretch your arms [drug therapy, restricting movement]. Don't try any stretches while you still have severe carpal tunnel syndrome or tennis elbow, etc.
Important for both stretches! Never stretch so that it hurts at all. Never stretch so that it hurts afterwards. If either of these two occur, you are either stretching too far, or you aren't ready to stretch yet. For my injury, I was advised to do both these stretches three times in a row, at three different times in the day. If both your arms are affected, stretch number one can be done, albeit less effectively, with some kind of stationery physical object applying the necessary counterforce.
Stretch number one; hold your affected arm out forward, palm up, lock your elbow. Using your other hand pull the affected arm's hand back by holding on to its fingers. You must hold this for a count of 30 [20 seconds, any less will be useless]. An arm with healthy tendons will allow the hand to be pulled back 90° from the forearm. Don't try to do this right away. It could take months or years to get this level of flexibility. Over stretching will aggravate your injury.
Stretch number two; your affected arm is in front of your body and the upper arm is close to vertical and the elbow is bent, forearm pointing towards the ceiling [the arm is making a V shape]. Your palm is facing as close as possible to the ceiling, although you may not be able to bend your wrist very far. With the other hand you will press the thumb of the affected arm's hand slightly down and out to the side. You must hold this for a count of 30 [20 seconds]. Again, over stretching will do more harm than good. Pain is bad.
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