Thumb-tunnal syndrom

Blackberry Thumb

One of my regular morning reads is Al's Morning Meeting from the Poynter Institute, a journalism education site. This morning, Al posted an interesting tidbit about "blackberry thumb." (Last item.) Apparently it is a growing condition resulting from typing on those little PDAs.

A story on C|Net said:

According to the Newark Star-Ledger, as the sizes and prices of handheld typing devices continue to shrink, some U.S. doctors and physical therapists are urging consumers to treat their on-the-go text messaging as they would any physical workout.

Yep, that means pre-text stretching to prevent swollen thumb tendons and cramped and stiff fingers, they say. Thumb-stabilizer splints may help assuage this Carpal Tunnel-type ailment, which doctors also treat with anti-inflammatory medicine and physical therapy.

"If I tell you to run a marathon and you're not in shape for it, you'd think I'm crazy," says Jules Steimnitz, a San Francisco physiatrist who treats repetitive stress injuries. But when it comes to text messaging, "people don't know what they can and can't do. People don't think of it as an activity using the muscles and tendons and ligaments."

U.S. doctors' warnings come three years after the British Chiropractic Association said regular text messaging could cause RSI.