Vacuum Shoulder

by Mari Tanaka
(Nagoya, Japan)

I recently started a new job on the cleaning staff at an office building downtown. I am 39 and have always been pretty lazy but did not think that I was too out of shape. I did not have much difficulty performing the tasks I was assigned, however after 1 week of vacuuming a rather large office area every day, my shoulder began to hurt. The pain was in the joint and worsened every day. I have always vacuumed and felt that the pain was not a result of the repetitive movement but a result of the speed at which I was now required to perform.

It got to the point where I would wake up in the middle of the night because of pain and for some reason sitting up would bring relief but laying down would cause the pain to return. I was unable to sleep and was forced to take the next day off (luckily it was a Friday) to go to the doctor.

I was diagnosed with RSI as I had thought and received a prescription for pain medication and rested over the weekend. I was lucky, I was not required to vacuum the next week and the symptoms cleared up quickly.