DO YOU HAVE TEXTING OR GAMER’S THUMB?? : By Jason Balogh MSPT, Cert MDT.

The past two decades have given great gains in our communication via cell phone technology and video gaming. With all of the benefits of these devices come some negatives also. The physical therapy community has seen a rise in what is now being termed “Texting or Gamers thumb”.

History

Over human history many injuries are termed by the activity being performed. Common historic thumb injuries include “Gamekeeper’s thumb”and “Skier’s thumb”. 

“Texting thumb” is older than one may think. In the recent past it was termed “BlackBerry” thumb (named after the device which may show age a slight bit in our earlier tech savvy community). It is a part of a broad category of overuse injuries of tendons or ligaments and at times more specifically de quervain’s tenosynovitis. 

Causes of Texting/Gamer’s thumb

Currently texting is a more common form of communication of younger generations than phone or e-mail communications. With this being said, persons have become blazingly fast at typing on devices with the world record holder texting 82.5 words per minute. Similarly, countless hours of video gaming can cause overuse injuries.

Medically speaking, the repetitive use causes tendon inflammation, from rubbing the surrounding tissues, that leads to inflammation and pain. Persons can also have soreness to touch as well as “clicking” or catching sensations. 

Other potential injuries seen can be of the pinky finger from supporting the electronic device or wrist issues such as carpal tunnel syndrome from positioning of the phone or controller. 

Symptoms

Common symptoms of texting or gamer’s thumb includes pain, often over the back thumb, and potentially running up into the wrist/forearm area. Swelling is sometimes found as well as tenderness to touch as well as pain with use. 

Diagnosis

To diagnose pain or limitation of your thumb in physical therapy we, at Advanced Rehabilitation, put you through an evaluation process taking your history of injury as well as factors that aggravate or alleviate your symptoms. Flexibility and strength are measured followed by a series of special tests that help determine whether it is ligamentous, musculo-tendon or a joint issue. 

Treatment

Physical therapy interventions for texting thumb include a good program of specific stretching and strengthening exercises related to your injury and symptom presentation. Manual therapy is used at times with mobilizations or potentially massage. Limiting the use/overuse of the involved area can also help to reduce the irritation as well as activity modification. Modalities such as heat, ice, ultrasound, and at times iontophoresis. Occasionally we will also make customized splints that limit mobility to allow healing to occur. One of the most important parts of an individualized program is a concise list of home exercises that a patient can do multiple times per day to improve their condition. 

Physical therapy also communicates with a patients treating physician to ensure that a patient's treatment is inclusive in all realms including appropriate treatment recommendations from said treating physician at times leading to anti-inflammatory medications or injections.

Prevention

Fortunately texting thumb damage is typically not permanent. However, as with most conditions it is better to prevent the condition from occurring or treat it as early as possible at onset. Some general ways of prevention are to limit the time/use of texting and video game playing. The type of device texting on or controller in video games can also make an ergonomic difference. Altering the finger used to text with has also been found to be helpful in limiting the amount of overuse of a single finger. Maintaining the general flexibility of your thumb/fingers/wrists is also beneficial to limit the occurrence of texting thumbs. 

Final thoughts

Repetitive use injuries are seen very often in physical therapy. The best treatment is preventing an injury from occurring modifying activities as needed. If an injury occurs, limiting use and seeking appropriate medical intervention including physical therapy to reduce inflammation and give appropriate treatment strategies to reduce pain and restore normal function. 

References:

1.Cedars-Sinai website:    https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/texting-thumb.html

2.Temple University. "Pain In The Neck: Too Much Texting Could Lead To Overuse Injuries." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 November 2009. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110105355.htm

3.https://korshjafarniamd.com/blog/texters-thumb-a-modern-day-malady/

4.Health Hype website: https://www.healthhype.com/how-to-prevent-texting-thumb-repetitive-strain-injury-rsi.html

5.Adams, Chris. "Gamer's Thumb: Repetitive Stress Injury." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/what-is-gamers-thumb-1205946.