Smartphones Can Cause Hand Pain

Spending too much time using your phone without taking a break may put you at risk for repetitive motion injuries. Here’s what you should know.

Do you keep your smartphone in your hand for long stretches, hunched over as you text or swipe? That’s a good habit to break.

It can lead to eye strain, back and neck pain, and injuries to your pinky, elbow, or thumb. As many as two-thirds of cellphone users end up with some kind of muscle injury, some research suggests.

Some 6 million Americans are treated in emergency rooms each year for wounds to their head or neck because they were walking while looking at their phone. If you get distracted by your phone while driving, you could land in a serious car accident.

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What is smartphone thumb or texting thumb?

Carolyn Barber, MD, a longtime emergency department doctor, used her phone so much she wound up with a swollen painful right thumb knuckle, a weaker grip, and an aching palm. Two other fingers were slightly swollen, she wrote in Scientific American, making it difficult to fully close her fist.

“Smartphone thumb,” “texting thumb,” or “trigger thumb (or finger)” refer to injuries to tendons known as repetitive stress injuries.

As Jeffrey Stone, MD, a hand surgeon at the Florida Orthopaedic Institute in Tampa, puts it, smartphone users are “running marathons with their thumbs every day.”

In a small study of Koreans ages 18 to 25, more than 58 percent reported pain in their wrists or hands during the past week, and 18.5 percent said that the pain kept them from doing their normal activities in the past year. Almost as many developed upper back or shoulder pain.

If you text quickly, hold your hand in an awkward position, or stretch your fingers to reach faraway keys, you are putting great pressure on the small joints in your hands. According to Stone, one pound of pressure at the tip of your thumb turns into as much as 14 pounds of pressure at your thumb’s base.

“Trigger thumb (or finger)” means your finger sometimes stays in a bent position, as if you were pulling the trigger of a gun. It occurs when a tendon becomes so inflamed it thickens and is literally stuck within the narrow sheath that contains the tendon.

Thickening and other changes in thumb tendons have shown up in ultrasounds. The more you text, the thicker the tendon.

“Text claw” refers to pain and cramping in your finger. “Cellphone elbow (or wrist)” refers to swelling and pain from keeping either joint in awkward positions for too long. Simply gripping a phone with your thumb and small finger can wear them out if you do it too often and too long.

Arthritis of the carpometacarpal joint, where your thumb connects to your wrist, is also sometimes referred to as texting thumb, although doctors don’t know for sure whether smartphone use can cause the condition.

Symptoms of injury from overusing smartphones

• Pain at the base of your thumb where it meets your palm
• A weak grip
• Locking or popping of the tendon with normal range of motion
• Stiffness that’s worse in the morning and gets better with warmth or use
• An inability to bend your thumb

The problem isn’t just from smartphones. A Popular Mechanics report says use of iPads and tablets can result in the same injuries.

Whatever device you’re using, it’s important to train yourself to take breaks. You’re not going to miss nearly as much as you may believe.

How to avoid pain in your hands

1. Keep text messages brief.
2. Avoid using your thumbs. Instead, hold your smartphone firmly in one hand and use the forefinger of your other to type.
3. Try speech-to-text.
4. Use Bluetooth or a set of earphones so you don’t have to hold your phone to your ear.
5. Take breaks.
6. Limit how often you play games, which usually require faster movements.
7. Use a laptop or PC with a larger keyboard whenever possible.
8. Strengthen the muscles of your hands and fingers: Squeeze a tennis ball or another type of ball that has some give to it.
9. Talk on your phone instead of texting.
10. Stretch your wrists and fingers. The simplest move is to shake your whole hand. Next make a fist, and fan out your fingers, repeating at least five times. Touch each finger to your thumb. Bend your wrist with your palm facing away from you. Cross your thumb across your palm. You can see photos of these stretches here.
11. If you feel sudden swelling and tenderness after using your smartphone, apply ice wrapped in a cloth or a cloth dipped in cool water.
12. Take over-the-counter NSAIDs for temporary relief.

Become more aware of how you’re using your phone and make the best choices for you. While you may believe you’re staying connected with constant texts and searches, research suggests that just the presence of a smartphone can diminish the quality of in-person conversations. It’s a distraction that reduces empathy, the study says.

It's possible cutting back will help save your thumbs and your friendships, too.

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