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How many hours of time do you spend "in touch" with smartphone everyday? Just like smoking, habit holds smartphone and overuse is capable of secretly destroying health. Recently a study discovered a "new disease" that causes finger pain as a result of using so-called smart phones thumb smartphone .
My thumb hurts because I play a smartphone too much
Cellphone addiction not only interferes with sleep, but is also linked to a type of muscle injury previously only experienced by factory workers. Pain resulting from repetitive strain injuries (RSI) or muscle and nerve injury due to repeated stretching now has a new name. The researchers call it by designation thumb smartphone.
The scientific name for this injury is actually tendinitis. This condition occurs when the tendon bends and flexes, the thumb becomes inflamed and causes pain in your thumb. According to doctors, more and more people complain of sore fingers, especially the thumb. In fact, this should come as no surprise given that mobile users are increasing, they are also spending more and more time on their phones.
Dr. Kristin Zhao, a biomedical researcher at the Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minnesota, explains what actually goes on inside the hand to cause the condition thumb smartphone. One suspicion is that the joints have become loose and sagging, and therefore the movements of the bones are different from those when they are in a normal state and are very likely to cause finger pain.
Zhao and the team have studied thumb smartphone for the last seven years. They explain that the movements you make when you hold your phone force your thumbs to move in strange positions.
This movement requires a thumbs force. The researchers used the technique dynamic imaging to observe the condition of the patient's healthy bones. So that later it can be compared normal bone conditions with abnormal ones. The abnormal movement of the bones in the thumb can cause pain and lead to osteoarthritis.
Is it true that you use your thumb too often when playing smartphone to increase the number of cases of arthritis in the thumb? According to Zhao, the number of osteoarthritis in the thumb is indeed high, and this must be due to your bad daily habits.
What can be done to avoid thumb smartphone?
If you don't want your fingers to hurt, start by giving your thumb a rest. Change the method of using your fingers when using your cell phone. For example using the index finger, or features voice message to dictate messages.
In addition, do stretches regularly. Especially for the wrists and fingers. This will help relax the muscles. Think about how often you force your joints to work, and how much time you give your fingers to rest.
Researchers advise you to use stylus rather than fingers. This will give your thumb a chance to rest. If your smartphone is not equipped stylus , You can alternately hold the phone, sometimes in your right hand, sometimes in your left hand. This allows the pressure to be evenly distributed on both hands.
Another way that you can also try is to place the cellphone on the table, then use it with your fingers. So you divide the task of sending messages evenly on all fingers except the thumb. Osteoarthritis of the thumb is more common in women than in men. If you feel sore fingers for a long time, it's a good idea to see a doctor immediately.
