BlackBerry Thumb - Is This Leading to the Next Generation of Hand Conditions?
Doctor: "Simple….don't make that movement!"
This little joke may make us laugh, unless it's you being told you can't do the movements necessary for work or play! This is actually the answer that was given to WebMD by the medical experts they quoted on the website. A good idea, but it isn't always practical.
While the painful wrist and thumb condition has been called "BlackBerry Thumb," in truth it belongs to all of the electronic items that require the thumbs to do rapid repetitive movements. As a person uses the BlackBerry, the movement of the thumb stresses the tendons on the side of the wrist where the base of the thumb and wrist meets with the forearm. This causes a condition called "de Quervain's tenosynovitis." Also, the tightening of the muscle just below the thumb joint can cause the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.
Another problem that can occur is "trigger finger." As the muscles that move the thumb in toward the thumb become shortened due to the repetitive use, they are unable to return to their normal length. The thumb is now held in the bent position, which is a condition known as trigger finger.
The standard medical treatment for wrist or thumb tendinitis is to first recommend a thumb brace, but this can just move the repetitive strain to a different muscle. Cortisone is frequently used to focus this strong drug directly into the site of the inflammation. A cortisone shot treats the symptom, not the cause, of the inflammation. The cause is the muscles that are being held in the contracted position, and therefore causing the tendon to strain at the insertion point at the bone. In order to release the tension on the bone, thus eliminating the cause of the inflammation, the muscle must be relaxed.
Fortunately for the users of BlackBerry, Sidekick, Treo, and all of the electronic games on the market, the treatment is easy to do and is highly effective. Pressure needs to be placed directly on the spasms in the muscles, and after 60 seconds the muscle needs to be stretched. Doing this simple movement releases the tension in the muscles and the strain is eliminated from the thumb joint.
Related Tags: arthritis, inflammation, tendonitis, blackberry, carpal tunnel, wrist pain, treo, thumb pain, trigger finger
Julie Donnelly is the President of Julstro International, Inc., and is a recognized authority in repetitive strain injuries, chronic pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Co-Author of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome-What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You and The Pain-Free Triathlete, and the developer of the breakthrough consumer product The Julstro Self Treatment Kit for Repetitive Strain Injuries.
She lectures and teaches self-treatment workshops worldwide, and she moderates an active forum on http://www.julstro.com
For more information about muscle and joint pain, visit: http://www.ultimate-performance.us
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