Smartphone thumb: Ways to avoid and ease strain from frequent texting

BERLIN: Whether you’re writing text messages, emails or notes on your smartphone, your thumbs are always busy.

But spend too much time typing on a touchscreen and eventually you’ll start to notice a pain in your hand. After all, our thumbs are not really made for hours of tapping and swiping on a smartphone display.

To make matters worse, smartphones have grown increasingly large and heavy in recent years, and many high-end models now weigh more than 200 grams and require serious hand acrobatics to stretch across screen diagonals of more than six inches.

Experts are warning that the required stretching movements are not natural and the German Society for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery (DGOU) says the result of heavy smartphone use is often a persisting pain on the thumb side of the wrist.

This problem is known as smartphone thumb or texting tendinitis and doctors say phone users should take breaks from typing from time to time, perhaps even stretching the thumb or wrist a little.

It also pays to type while standing, as this is less strenuous for the thumbs than typing while sitting.

If you’re sitting while you type, you should rest your forearms as much as possible. It’s also better to use two thumbs than one.

The tap-tap-tap of traditional type texting may also be a more strenuous method for your thumbs and it might be worth trying the swipe-typing approach offered on iOS and Android keyboards. This can also be done with one index finger if you want to give your thumbs a break.

If you’ve injured your thumbs from heavy smartphone use and still need to send messages, consider creating a voice message instead of writing a text.

If you experience pain, your doctor may prescribe physiotherapy, a painkiller or a cortisone injection. However, rest will still be required. If you still need to type, do so more slowly than usual and take frequent breaks. – dpa