Thumb Arthritis: Stop Doing This with Your Phone
Your thumb is responsible for gripping utensils during meals, manipulating tools, and even typing on a keyboard. Unfortunately, for anyone with thumb arthritis, some activities worsen the pain and inflammation. Excessive or improper phone use has recently been discovered to exacerbate the symptoms. Holding it wrong, excessive scrolling, and overuse are just a few of the issues that increase discomfort.
Luckily, rehab therapies often reduce your existing symptoms. For instance, physical therapy improves muscle strength and joint flexibility in your thumb, hands, and wrists, and reduces pain. Occupational therapy introduces self-care skills that allow you to perform daily tasks without aggravating your arthritis. Knowing what’s causing your increase in symptoms is also vital, so let’s take a look at the possibilities.
Thumb Arthritis – What Not to Do with Your Phone
Arthritis affects the joints, causing the cartilage to deteriorate until the bones rub against each other. In the thumb, it usually occurs in the basal joint located at the digit’s base. The condition causes pain, swelling, loss of strength, and limited movement. Increased phone use worsens these symptoms due to the following actions.
Don’t hold your phone with one hand for long periods!
According to recent studies, holding a smartphone for extended periods in one hand alters joint activity. Without a proper ergonomic design, the thumb, fingers, and wrists are forced into awkward positions.
Prolonged use increases the risk of musculoskeletal disorders or worsens existing conditions, including thumb arthritis. To avoid such issues, switch the phone between hands regularly or place it on a surface during use.
Avoid prolonged use without breaks
Experts state repetitive activities increase joint stress and inflammation. Excessive phone use, particularly during long typing sessions, has been linked to such concerns. It’s also believed to affect women more frequently, due to higher thumb abduction, quicker movements, and fewer breaks.
To prevent worsening your thumb arthritis symptoms, avoid prolonged phone use. Taking breaks reduces stress on the joint, preventing excess wear from repetitive movements.
Avoid gripping your phone tightly
Phones aren’t invincible. When dropped, their screens or cases crack or break, requiring costly repairs. Their fragility often leads to tight grips when holding them, putting extra pressure on your muscles and joints.
Since the thumb does double duty by holding the phone and typing or scrolling, it’s often the most affected. Loosening your grip or using a phone grip/holder eases the pressure and relieves thumb arthritis symptoms.
Don’t text with just your thumbs
Your thumb is involved in approximately 50% of everyday hand functions. However, 5-6 hours of each day are spent on phone use, including frequent texting. Those repetitive actions, combined with unnatural thumb movements, increase arthritis pain and inflammation.
Rather than exclusively using your thumb to text, choose other options to give it a break. These could include using your fingers, a stylus, or voice-to-text methods.
Avoid strolling with your thumb
Texting isn’t the only phone activity linked to thumb arthritis pain. Scrolling and swiping the screen is also part of the problem. Those small, jerky movements irritate the joint and surrounding muscles. The more often you do it, the worse your symptoms become.
Using your index finger prevents such strain since it keeps your scrolling hand in a more natural position. Frequent breaks also rest your hands, while stretches ease the pain.
Resources:
- OrthoInfo, Arthritis of the Thumb
https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases–conditions/arthritis-of-the-thumb/ - PMC, July 23, 2024, The impact of smartphone use duration and posture on the prevalence of hand pain among college students
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11265474/ - PMC, Oct.- Dec. 2014, Cellular Phone Overuse as a Cause for Trapeziometacarpal Osteoarthritis: A Two Case Report
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4719275/ - Yale Medicine, Dec. 6, 2024, Is There a Link Between Hand pain and Smartphone Use?
https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/is-there-a-link-between-hand-pain-and-your-smartphone-use - UCLA Health, April 18, 2022, Can texting give you arthritis?
https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/can-texting-give-you-arthritis - Kaiser Permanente, Jan. 12, 2023, How to avoid texting thumb and other hand injuries
https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/georgia/health-wellness/healtharticle.how-to-avoid-texting-thumb-and-other-hand-injuries
This article contains informational and educational materials and does not replace health or medical advice. For questions or concerns regarding your medical condition or health objectives, speak to a qualified physician or healthcare provider.
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