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

For many of those students who either have or are concerned they may be developing RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury), 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 says it has been working hard to educate students about RSI prevention as well as providing quality care for those students suffering from RSI, some students say UHS has not done enough.

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

The Initial Stages

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.

Chief of Medicine at UHS Christopher M. Coley says 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.

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

According to the Harvard RSI Action Home Page (http://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.

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

Coley says the normal procedure at UHS is for students to be seen first by a primary care physician. Depending upon the severity of a patient's symptoms, the primary care physician will either refer the patient to a specialist or to a physical therapist.

Those students with very minor symptoms or general concerns are directed to the Center for Wellness and Health Communication (CWHC) located on the second floor of UHS.

According to center Manager Christine A. Hollis, CWHC has a resource center to provide patients as well as any Harvard students with information on all sorts of diseases and syndromes, including RSI.

The center also offers RSI workshops which focus on prevention as well as help for those students already suffering from symptoms of the syndrome, Hollis says.