Many repetitive stress injuries start as mild discomfort and get dismissed as temporary strain. But the pattern matters. Symptoms often flare after a particular workflow—long computer sessions, repeated lifting at a steady pace, repetitive gripping, or sustained wrist/arm positioning.
In practice, insurers and employers may argue that:
- the condition was pre-existing,
- the symptoms are unrelated to work tasks,
- or the timeline doesn’t “fit.”
Orem claimants often run into an additional real-world challenge: busy schedules and commuting make it harder to attend follow-up appointments, request ergonomic adjustments, or keep a consistent record of when symptoms began and what triggered them.


