Protect Your Hands from ‘Texting Thumb’ in the Smart Phone Era

You’ve probably heard of tennis elbow, shin splints and carpal tunnel syndrome. But what about texting thumb?

This increasingly common repetitive stress injury is linked directly to the smart-phone era. Spending so much time texting, surfing and playing games on phones is taking a toll on our hands, with the repetitive motions creating tendonitis in fingers, thumbs and wrists.

You may immediately think of this as an affliction for younger people who seem to live on their phones. But over-stressed fingers and thumbs are also commonly found among older phone users.

What Texting Thumb Feels Like

The most obvious symptom of texting thumb is pain, though the location may vary, based on which part of your hand is affected. It is more likely to affect the thumb or index finger.

One of the more common variations is called trigger finger, which causes pain in your palm at the point where your finger begins. Trigger finger can affect any of the fingers, including the thumb.  Repetitive clicking can also affect the base of the thumb with an issue known as deQuervain’s tenosynovitis.

To understand what’s happening, consider that each of the digits on your hand is controlled by a tendon connected to the muscles in your forearm. When your forearm muscles contract, the tendons make your fingers move through what is essentially a pulley system. Each of those tendons travels through a sheath, which keeps it in place and acts as a lubricant.

When that pulley system is overworked it can create irritation and swelling in the tendon. This can make it difficult or painful to straighten your finger or thumb. In severe cases, there may also be a clicking that you can both feel and hear when you move your finger.

Rest Is Best

If you are clicking away on your smart phone and realize the motions are causing pain in one of your fingers or thumbs, it’s time to take a break. Take some over-the-counter anti-inflammatory pills and give your overworked hand a few days of rest.

If that doesn’t do the trick, it’s time to see a doctor, who may suggest a range of treatments, depending on the severity of your condition. Options include:

• Exercises: Simple stretches for your finger or thumb may improve range of motion and reduce the stiffness.
• Splinting: You may be asked to wear a splint – particularly when you sleep – to keep your thumb or finger straight to alleviate some of the irritation.
• Medications: Your doctor may prescribe pain relievers or anti-inflammatory drugs.
• Steroid injections: A powerful anti-inflammatory/pain reliever is injected into the tendon sheath at the base of your finger or thumb. In most cases, one or two injections will solve the problem.

In rare cases, you may need surgery to release your finger and get back to normal. In those instances, the swollen tendon is getting hung up on one of the pulleys (think of it as a belt loop that helps guide the tendon) in your hand. The surgery cuts through that “belt loop” to allow the tendon to move back and forth without friction.

Give Your Fingers a Break

The best way to prevent repetitive stress injuries to your fingers is to keep in mind that you are asking them to do a lot every day. If you spend hours at a time on your phone, allocate time for breaks. Take a brief walk between sessions. This will allow both your eyes and hands to get some rest.

While breaking away from your screen, also take time to stretch your fingers. Do 10-second hyper extensions, one finger at a time on both your right and left hand. Make it part of your routine to do these stretches three or four times a way. These short breaks will do wonders for the health of your fingers.

This content is not AI generated.