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Thumb pain typing9/13/2023 What do you recommend to people who have neck pain from phone use? If it’s bad enough that you have to take medications for it, you need to give your hand a long rest. What advice do you have for people who chronically get “text thumb?”ĭon’t push through it! Ignoring the pain in your hand can make it worse. A good “rule of thumb” is giving your hand a rest for as long as you’ve had the symptoms. There is no perfect amount of time to rest your hand. The best thing a patient can do is use their thumb in moderation. If their symptoms are especially severe, I’ve recommended using a hand brace that’s designed to prevent them from further irritating the tendon. My first recommendation to patients is to take anti-inflammatories (such as ibuprofen or an over-the-counter medication) and give their thumb some rest. It is more difficult and not as fast, but it causes less pain. You can “peck and pick,” which is where you type with a straight finger instead of a flexed thumb. If you’re using a two-handed grasp and typing with your thumbs, swap to a single hand. The best thing any patient can do is use their thumb in moderation. That in turn causes the tunnel to swell, which causes the discomfort. If the thumb is overused, the tendon starts to swell. Tendons that run up our thumb allow us to move it and they come through a tunnel at the side of our wrist. To understand what it is, you first have to understand the wrist’s anatomy. Patients frequently talk to me about “text thumb,” although the actual diagnosis for it is called de Quervain’s tenosynovitis (dih-kwer-VAINS ten-oh-sine-oh-VIE-tis). This is why I think it is important to explain how to keep texting pain-free. As much fun - and utility - as these mobile time sinks add to our lives, they’re also increasingly giving us constant thumb and neck pain. A long wait for a meal at a restaurant or killing time before an appointment is often filled by texting, tweeting and scrolling on our smartphones.
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