RSI. They're just three little letters, but over the past semester, they have been striking fear in the hearts and pain in the hands and wrists of countless students.

Suddenly, hand braces seem a la mode. People don't ask anymore when they see friends with braces on both wrists. Repetitive Strain Injury, or RSI, has become a way of life for many Harvard students. For others it is a common ailment they hope to avoid.

For many students who either have or are concerned they may be developing RSI, the first place they turn for help is University Health Services (UHS).

But some students who have been treated at UHS have expressed concerns about the quality of RSI treatment and prevention efforts.

While UHS officials said they have been working hard to educate students about RSI prevention as well as providing quality care for those students suffering from RSI, some students have said UHS has not done enough.

UHS officials agree, and over the past year they have been stepping up efforts to improve all aspects of RSI care, including physician education, prevention seminars and more accessible physical therapy.

In an effort to learn more about the relatively unstudied syndrome, the University is also sponsoring an interfaculty program to study RSI at Harvard.

Symptoms and Causes

RSI is frequently associated with such activities as typing, something that many Harvard students spend much time doing, especially near the end of the semester when most papers and final projects are due.

Students who suffer from the most extreme cases of RSI describe being unable to open doors, or even eat without intense pain.

Chief of Medicine at UHS Christopher M. Coley said during the peak times around reading period and final exams, between 12 and 14 students visit primary care physicians at UHS each day complaining of symptoms of RSI.

Students in some departments, such as Computer Science (CS), come down with RSI most frequently. After "assignment eight" this fall in CS 50: "Introduction to Computer Science I," several students complained the length of the assignment caused them to come down with RSI.

Both the signs and the severity of RSI can vary from case to case, but the most common symptoms include pain and tingling in the hands, wrists or arms.

According to the Harvard RSI Action Web Page (www.eecs.harvard.edu/rsi), a page put together by students at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), RSI can be potentially debilitating, causing long-term soft tissue damage if not treated early.

Those suffering from RSI often find they have to either limit or completely stop engaging in such activities as typing or writing which could cause further damage.