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Published 30 May, 2017 09:18am

Excessive texting may be harmful, can cause ‘smartphone thumb’

WEB DESK: Texting with friends individually or even in group seems a fun activity to do. Plus, once you start a conversation it goes on. 

Moreover, doctors have warned that excessive texting may be harmful to you and can cause 'smartphone thumb' which is a painful condition occurred by continuous movements of typing with thumb which lead to arthritis in the area.

Also, this state is formally known as tendinitis which was previously reported in factory workers. This condition causes tendon that bends and flexes the thumb to make it inflame. The situation is getting alarming as more people are complaining about it each year, added doctors.

Kristin Zhao, from the Mayo Clinic in the US said,“One of the hypotheses is that the joints get loose and lax, and because of that the bones move differently than they would in a normal situation." The researches are being done in this regard for seven whole years.

Moreover, Zhao said,“It’s also a movement that requires some force through the thumbs. It’s not just free movement in space."

In addition, researchers also began utilizing a technique back in 2010, called it a dynamic technique to analyze bones movement of a health patient and unhealthy ones so they could figure out what is wrong by comparing both movements.

“Our hypothesis is that abnormal motion of bones in the thumb could be causing pain onset and eventual osteoarthritis,” maintained Zhao

According to her, "too much texting may lead to more cases of arthritis in the thumb."

However, in order to avoid it giving breaks to thumb is essential. Plus, stretching exercises with fingers and writs could be helpful as well as per doctors advise.

Source: Hindustan Times 

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