TMI

Do you text? Do you text a lot? If you’re under a certain age, you probably do. Afterall, you’re of the generation that was sprung from your mother’s womb clutching a smart phone, those cute little thumbs flapping in the breeze!

Hand injuries reported from texting are growing – a lot; enough so to have earned their own acronym: TMI (in this case, “text message injury”, not “too much information”). The popularity of this method of communication is causing alarming repetitive strain injuries to the tendons and muscles of the thumb. That’s NOT good. The thumb is involved in about 40% of your hand’s functioning!

In the Reflexology for the Hands workshop, participants learn how to give a relaxing and therapeutic session of reflexology, and maybe more importantly, how to take care of the hands and wrists through ergonomics, body mechanics, stretching, strengthening and more. With the rise in carpal tunnel syndrome and TMI, this may just be the most important workshop you could attend – for yourself and your business.

SOME FACTS:

– More than 5 billion text messages are sent every day.

– 40% of “texters” suffer from repetitive strain injuries to their hands.

– Americans text more than they talk on the phone.

– American teens text 60 – 100 times a day.

That says to me that there are a lot of folks out there that could use some good hand therapy! Are you one of them? Or do you know someone who texts and types a lot?

When texting, the muscles of the thumb are held in an almost constant state of contraction. Oxygenated blood can’t get in and metabolic waste deposits can’t get out, resulting in sore muscles. The scarier risk though is to the CMC joint (the carpal metacarpal joint), the most vulnerable joint in the hand. Texting places even more force on this joint than typing! (I’ll post something tomorrow about protecting the thumbs and fingers when doing reflexology.)

Those first symptoms of achiness, tingling and/or numbness should not be ignored. They can lead to more serious conditions such as tendonitis, trigger thumb (when the tendons shrink to hold the thumb in a permanent curl) and/or deQuervain’s disease (a debilitating condition involving the tendons of the extensor pollicis brevis and the abductor pollicis longus, the two muscles that extend the thumb). In some cases, surgery is even necessary.

GUIDELINES FOR TEXTERS:

– Stretch arms, hands and digits throughout the day.

– Strengthen forearm muscles.

– If your hands hurt, ice them as often as you can throughout the day.

– Use both thumbs to text.

– Watch your posture: spine straight, shoulders down and relaxed.

– Place phone on a hard surface to text.

– Restrict texting to 3 minutes or less at a time.

– and for God’s sake, take a break, especially if you feel discomfort in your hands!

Take a minute to think of all that your hands do for you. Our hands “grab hold of life”, thus relaxed, strong and pain free hands make it easier to eagerly reach out and grasp what life has to offer. Start a love affair with your hands and those of your family and clients. Learn hand reflexology!