Digital distress: PDAs a real pain on the thumbs

Your thumbs may be paying the price for having technology at your fingertips.

"BlackBerry thumb," the catch-all phrase used to describe a repetitive stress injury of the thumb, is becoming almost as prevalent as the nifty devices that cause it.

"It's not much different than Nintendo thumb, which we saw years ago," said Katie Piazzi, a hand therapist for Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.

Since its debut in 1999, BlackBerry sales and the popularity of similar devices such as Treos and Sidekicks have skyrocketed.

But the combination of miniature keyboards and the shortened range of motion for an extended period of time is proving to be as hard on the thumbs as the expensive PDAs are on pocketbooks.

Karin Klein, a hand therapist in Arlington Heights, said BlackBerry thumb is a generalized pain at the base of the thumb that sometimes moves up into the hand.

The injuries are caused by prolonged grips, repetitive motion on small buttons and awkward wrist movements, usually stemming from typing a large number of text messages.

"The best thing you can do is take breaks every hour," Klein said. "And remember to stretch your hands."

Piazzi will host a free lecture on BlackBerry thumb from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Condell Day Center in Libertyville.

"This is no longer just affecting someone who is working on a line doing the same thing over and over all day," Piazzi said, who has seen a steady increase in patients with thumb tendinitis.

"Upper extremity injuries are becoming more and more prevalent, and we are seeing a lot of problems with executives."

Piazzi said her youngest patient was a 24-year-old professional woman who couldn't move her thumbs without sharp pain and snapping.

The patient's symptoms mirrored others': the pain started at the base of her thumb and hurt when doing simple activities such as turning a key in the ignition. Soon it progressed to a sharp pain, then her thumbs became virtually immobile.

The reason the thumb is so susceptible to the problems, Piazzi said, is because it is the most critical digit in the hand.

"When your thumb starts to hurt, everything hurts," she said. "The thumb is so critical in everything we do. It is the post that everything else works off of."

Last year, the Hyatt hotel chain even created a special "BlackBerry Balm' hand massage at most of its North American spas.

According to the Hyatt, the 30-minute massage costs about $30 and focuses on counteracting tension in the hand, specifically overworked thumbs and wrists.

Calls to the hotel chain Tuesday inquiring about the success of the program were not returned.

In 2005, the American Society of Hand Therapists issued a consumer alert, warning heavy use of handheld electronics could lead to hand ailments.

While the society didn't have concrete numbers then, and still doesn't have data as to how many people suffer from BlackBerry thumb, it estimates thousands.

"We are giving our thumbs, wrists and elbows a real workout with heavy use of handheld electronics," society president Donna Breger Stanton said. "Listen to your hands and arms when using these devices."

BlackBerry thumb Rx

Symptoms

• Pain at base of the thumb when doing simple activities

• Pain that doesn't go away after a night's rest

• Dull pain progressing to sharp pain, then making thumb or finger virtually immobile.

• If symptoms persist for more than three months, it is a sign of something more significant.

Solutions

• Take frequent breaks from your PDA; it's harmful to type for more than a few minutes at a time.

• Write fewer and shorter messages. Learn to abbreviate your responses.

• Try to avoid thumb-typing; use other fingers to type.

• Place a support in your lap so wrists are in a more upright position, not flexed or bent.

Source: American Physical Therapy Association/ American Society of Hand Therapists