[February 23, 2006]

Text Messaging Leading to Record Number of Injuries in England

By PATRICK BARNARD

TMCnet Associate Editor

“Oh, my aching thumbs.”

This is a common refrain among users of mobile text messaging devices – particularly in England, which has reportedly gone gaga for wireless text messaging technology.

According to recent survey undertaken by Virgin Mobile, Britons’ insatiable thirst for text messaging has led to record number of “repetitive strain” injuries – particularly to peoples’ thumbs. The report finds about 3.8 million Britons now complain of text messaging-related injuries every year – a 38 percent increase from five years ago.

Plus, the trend shows no signs of slowing: The survey finds that 12 percent of users send 20 or more texts per day - with 10 percent sending up to 100 texts per day (!).

In an article published in The Register on Tuesday, British Chiropractic Association (BCA) spokesperson Dr Matthew Bennett said he was unsurprised by the findings.

”BCA chiropractors recognize that text messaging regularly, over a long period of time, could cause repetitive strain which may cause both short and long term injuries,” he said.

To combat the problem, doctors are recommending that avid users of text messaging use the following exercises to help prevent injuries:

Tap each finger with the thumb of the same hand. Repeat five times.

Pull your thumb firmly with the other hand. Repeat five times.
Wrap an elastic band around the tips of fingers and thumb and open your hand against the resistance. Repeat 20 times.
Palms down wrap an elastic band around each thumb and force apart. Repeat 20 times.
Tap the palm and back of your hand on your thigh as quickly as you can. Repeat 20 times.
Massage thumb web, back of forearm and front of forearm. Two minutes.
Press and rub in a circular motion the painful nodules in those muscles. Thirty seconds for each nodule.
Reach up high with both arms and shake your hands. Reach down low with both arms and shake. Repeat three times.
Arms at 45 degrees, squeeze them behind you.

If it still hurts after a week of doing exercises, wrap an ice pack on sore hand and arm parts. Do not put ice directly on the skin but wrap in a thin cloth or piece of kitchen roll. Ten minutes on, 10 minutes off. Repeat three times.

The problem, of course, relates to the small size of today’s mobile devices. In order to send messages on these devices, users must hold them with their fingers and use their thumbs to press the tiny keys. This reverses the computer keyboard position, where clumsy thumbs are relegated to the space bar and the fingers do the typing.

“When text messaging, the tendency is to keep your shoulders and upper arms tense,” Bennett explained. “This cuts down the circulation to the forearm, when in fact it needs a greater than normal blood flow to achieve the consistent movements of the thumbs and fingers.”

Compounding the problem is the fact that mobile devices are increasingly being used in the workplace. Some doctors have speculated that the stress of work, combined with the repetitive motion, is escalating the number of injuries. Symptoms of repetitive stress injury include pain and immobility in the joints, nerves and muscles running from the neck to the fingers. Numbness is also a symptom and is often considered the first sign that a user needs to stop and take a break.

The report follows a series of recent warnings about “BlackBerry Thumb” and “iPod Finger,” as well as numerous, related warnings about similar injuries resulting from playing video games.

Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.

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