The ‘texting thumb’ injury is becoming more common thanks to increased smartphone usage

Smartphones and tablets have so many uses, from texting to playing games on them, using them as e-readers or sat-nav devices, and sometimes, just sometimes, we even make phone calls on them. A well-known side-effect of these electronic devices is that people can often become more interested in what is on the display they are holding and not what is going on in real-life. But the side-effect we are going to discuss today though is where smartphones and tablets are impacting on our thumbs and wrists, as explained by Dr. Dori Cage, an orthopedic surgeon in San Diego.

The condition is called ‘texting thumb’ and it is the result of spending too much time tapping on a smartphone or tablet display. The repetition of the tapping action takes its toll on our thumbs and wrists, leading to a repetitive stress injury (RSI). Dr. Cage says that she first saw the injury in a patient with a suspected torn tendon in the hand. The cause of the injury was spending too much time playing Candy Crush Saga.

“Any action…you do over and over again, you can overdo it.” Dr. Cage said.

There’s no need to pick up the pitchforks, this isn’t some anti-technology rant ending with the advice that we go back to knitting or perhaps whittling a piece of wood. The fact is that this isn’t a new type of injury at all. It’s just becoming more common because most of us use smartphones and tablets in our daily lives. Repetitive stress injuries have been seen throughout the ages in people doing old-fashioned tasks such as needlepoint, knitting, tailoring, sending telegraphs and yes, even whittling pieces of wood. The injury can occur anytime that you are using your hands to perform a repetitive action.

How can we tell if we already have signs of this ‘texting thumb’ or repetitive stress injury? If you have noticed that your hands are painful, your thumb feels strangely weak/numb or your wrist is in discomfort, you should probably put the device down for a while or at least swap hands. Just as an example, my other half has recently discovered that her thumb is quite sore, the result of holding her tablet for extended sessions whilst reading. Now she is having to hold her smartphone and tablet differently to give her strained thumb a well-deserved breather.

One way to minimise the risk is to try to hold your devices differently, either change hands or rest the device on your knee or another surface. Another method is to change how you interact with your device, i.e. if you usually tap with your thumb, why not try tapping with your index finger for a while. Basically, you need to change things up, alternate the actions to lower the risk. Another method is to use a virtual assistant such as Samsung’s S-Voice or the Ok Google command on your Android device, although I’m unsure how it will help when playing Plants vs Zombies…

It should go without saying that if your thumbs, hands or wrists give you pain while using your device, then you should probably make an appointment with your doctor to see what avenues of treatment are available to you. In the meantime, let’s be careful out there people. It might be interesting to count how many times you tap the display during the day and then see if you can use your other hand or fingers to lighten the load on your dominant hand or thumb.

Source: U-TSanDiego
Via: Engadget

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