Thursday, June 15, 2017

Smartphones

Heidi Wachter discusses in her article titled, “Are Smartphones Causing Thumb Tendonitis?” the potential side effects of the increased use of smartphones. Inflammation of the thumb, called tendinitis, is usually caused by overuse, arthritis, direct impact or repetitive grasping. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have been looking at imaging showing the bones of patients of patients using smartphones compared to those that are not. Researchers have not made any decisive conclusions when looking at the imaging, but they have found that holding and texting on smartphones is awkward for thumbs. People that grip and hold smartphones cause constriction of their flexor tendons, which may cause pain on the outside of thumbs and eventually even osteoarthritis. 

There are some tips for those wanting to find ways to reduce the risk of developing tendinitis caused by holding smartphones. On smartphones, typically you can use voice-recognition technology, which would decrease the amount of time spent texting and gripping the phone. When holding a smartphone, it can be beneficial to change the hand that you typically hold your phone and even try using different fingers to text. To find out more ways to keep you and your family healthy, please visit our website at www.oxborochiro.com


Source: https://experiencelife.com/article/smartphones-thumb-tendonitis/?utm_source=home5