If your device has the capability, check your screen time to get a reliable answer. The reality is that you’re probably using your smartphone more than you think. If you suspect you may have texting thumb, the first question to ask yourself is: How much have I been using my smartphone lately? “This inflammation causes pain at the base of the thumb, which may extend to the lower arm.” How do you know if you have texting thumb? “When it comes to texting, its thought that the frequent traveling of the thumb over the screen leads to tendon inflammation,” explains Dr.

Repetitive stress injuries that cause thumb pain are more formally called de Quervain's tenosynovitis. From tendonitis to trigger thumb, orthopedic surgeons have been diagnosing versions of texting thumb for decades. Texting thumb might sound new, but the category of syndromes it falls into isn’t. Jafarnia says that the thumb joint is not meant to move rapidly in a repetitive manner, and the confined space in this joint makes matters worse. “These inflamed tendons then rub against the narrow tunnel in which they sit, causing thumb pain.”ĭr. Korsh Jafarnia, orthopedic surgeon at Houston Methodist. “Texting thumb occurs when repetitive hand movements cause inflammation in the tendons of the thumb,” says Dr.

Facebook post after Facebook post, tweet after tweet, Instagram photo after Instagram photo - it’s easy to spend hours swiping our thumb down the length of our smartphone screens.Īs a result, some of us develop pain in our thumbs, which is called texter’s thumb (or, more commonly, texting thumb). We pinch our fingers together to zoom in on the weird face our dog is making in a photo.

We tap our thumbs to fire off texts and emails. Using your smartphone might not seem like physical activity, but - when it comes to the tendons and muscles in your hands and thumb - it may be more of a workout than you think.

Thumb pain typing