“Texting thumb is a way for me to say to somebody, ‘It appears to me that you're doing too much of this,’” says Stone. We are dwelling here within the broader category of repetitive stress injuries, which may occur in any body part being asked to do the same thing repeatedly. Trigger thumb ( or trigger finger), which some providers are beginning to associate with phone users who constantly swipe and text, is another real thing. But it is a real phenomenon, if somewhat ill-defined, and stems from overuse and subsequent inflammation. “ Texting thumb,” which you may also hear called “smartphone thumb,” may not be an official medical diagnosis. “But now it’s everybody,” he says, “because people are constantly between their phones, pads and computers. Stone, an upper extremity surgeon at the Florida Orthopedic Institute, says he has long seen these injuries from texting, computer work, gaming, doctors recording information online, surgeons holding retractors or forceps, and so on. “You are not alone,” Jeffrey Stone assures me. It becomes stuck sometimes when bent and then straightens with a snap. Additionally, my long finger is catching some when I bend it. Swelling in my index and long fingers-my swiping fingers-is affecting my ability to fully close my fist. And yes, my dominant hand has taken a beating. I swiped up, highlighted, bolded, copied, pasted, collated-all of it on a mobile device that fits in one hand, albeit awkwardly. I followed top scientists on Twitter, pored over COVID-19 literature, ordered goods and services, caught up with breaking news, messaged friends, wrote e-mails, composed longer notes and full letters, and of course produced those long reports. Then came the pandemic, which ratcheted up my phone game to staggering new levels. For now, let me just say that this is a patient I know quite well-so well, in fact, that I’m not sure how I didn’t see this coming.įor a decade, I have used my smartphone to hammer out voluminous emergency medicine reports that highlight various medical conditions, which I then share with a broad array of doctors each week, the better to stay on top of important trends and topics in our field. I’ll get to the diagnosis in just a moment. The second and third fingers are slightly swollen. Her middle finger intermittently has a new “catch” to it when bent. Her grip is slightly weakened, and her palm aches. The patient’s right thumb knuckle is inflamed, swollen and often painful, especially toward the end of the day, and the inside part is a little numb. As a longtime emergency department physician, I have a case study I’d like to share with you.
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