Suffering with Blackberry Thumb Or Mobile Phone Thumb

Physiotherapy

Blackberry® thumb or mobile phone thumb

BlackBerry® is a mobile communication device, which offers access to the office when on the move. It has for this reason become very popular with business and finance people, who travel to meetings locally and overseas.

It has a small keyboard, which is operated by the thumbs and in some cases there is a high demand on the thumbs, as high volumes of text is typed on the keyboard. This high demand has in a number of cases lead to pain of the thumb and wrist area, which has lead to the term "BlackBerry® thumb".

Repetitive strain as a cause of intense BlackBerry® use, can lead to pain in a number of structures. These include overuse of the joint at the base of the thumb, which unlike the other fingers, has the ability to glide to the middle. This gives the thumb the agility that is needed to operate the BlackBerry®. In severe cases overuse of this joint can cause osteoarthritis, which can have long term impact of the health of the hand.

More typically is cases of overuse of the tendon, which work over the thumb. These can develop tendonitis, which can cause intense pain. This condition can be chronic and only settle with various treatments for tendon injuries.

Damage of the nerve tissue, supplying the thumb and wrist can also be affected, particularly if the user has adapted poor posture.

The term "Nintendonitis" was introduced a few years ago, as children developed sore thumbs/fingers/wrists from excessive use of computer games, such as Nintendo®.

If you suffer from pain due to intense BlackBerry® or other electronic communication devices, you should seek medical advice, preferably from a practitioner specialising in overuse injuries, such as Physiotherapy In Chelsea.