HWN Suggests

How do I manage the pain of ‘texting thumb’?

Your thumbs do a lot of work when you use your phone. And if you’re starting to feel pain at the base of your thumbs and in your wrists, these digits are probably working overtime...

This overuse injury affects the tendons running along the thumb-side of the wrist, and is characterized by swelling, pain and hampered function, Girard says.To visualize what’s going on, think of your thumb as a puppet and these tendons as the puppet strings, he says. When you’re holding up your phone, these tendons make a steep, right-angled turn and “floss" back-and-forth to control your thumbs.

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Featured

  The 21st Century Thumb...

Let’s face it we’re all guilty of overusing the text feature of our cell phones! The 21st century thumb has been introduced to ranges of motion that are now being overused. Irregular motion of the thumb due to texting has presented new aches and pains that our bodies are not accustomed to performing.

 Me and My Numb Thumb: A Tale of Tech, Texts and Tendons

It took me a few months to accept that I had given myself tendinosis in my phone thumb. It is a depressingly modern condition in which the tendons around the thumb inflame as a result of repetitive strain — in my case because I had, for hours a day over years of a life, tapped that right-hand digit onto the glass of my smartphone. The condition sounds like the subject of a local television news trend story about teenagers whose thumbs seize up while they play video games. It was definitely not something I, a mature professional, should ever have. I began to call it my numb thumb.

Articles of Interest

De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis aka Texting Thumb

“Texting thumb”, medically called De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis, earned its name as it is a painful inflammatory condition that arises from repetitive movements of the thumb. As such, this condition has also been associated with gamers, office workers, carpenters, musicians, clothes designers, chefs and new mothers – i.e. roles that require constant gripping, clenching, lifting, pinching and wringing of objects.

Texting Frequently With Thumbs May Cause Tendinitis

Even when texting with two thumbs, most people tend to put greater stress on the thumb of their dominant hand, the study found. Repetitive joint movements are a common cause of chronic tendon injuries in large joints, such as the shoulder, but overuse injuries of the small tendons have received little attention, it said.

Texting Thumb, Trigger Finger, Gamer’s Thumb and Other Smartphone Injuries

What causes them and how to protect yourself. More broadly, it’s probably wise for all of us to spend a little more time unplugged. (Guilty as charged, over here.) Take a walk. Pocket your phone. And give your tweeting digits the break they deserve.

The Way You Text Can Mess Up Your Hands

Here's how to undo the damage from tapping out texts and emails all day.

When Technology Hurts

In short, we give our hands, arms and elbows a workout without even realizing it. And like more athletic activities, repetitive keystrokes and mouse clicks may put us at risk for injury or aggravate existing conditions. Little research has been done on the relationship between repetitive stress injuries — which occur when we repeat the same action to the extent that it strains our bodies — and the devices that now fill our lives.

“Texting thumb” gets a big thumbs down

You’ve likely heard about the dangers of texting and driving, or the anxiety that too much social media can create if you’re constantly comparing yourself to others online. But there’s another less-obvious risk to overusing your smartphone that you may not have thought about: texting thumb. "The medical term for texting thumb is De Quervain’s tenosynovitis," explained Dr. Glen Jacob, MD, a hand surgeon at Geisinger Wyoming Valley in Wilkes-Barre. "The condition can make it hard to do anything that involves your hands, such as lifting, turning your wrist or making a fist."