Excessive use of Facebook and WhatsApp can lead to wrist and finger joint pain, arthritis and repetitive stress injuries to your hands, arms and back, warn orthopaedic experts.
Doctors are seeing increasing number of such cases. "These days, young people are excessively addicted to social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. They are constantly using smartphones and tablets for texting, which has led to an increase over the past few years in the number of people complaining of aches and pains in their fingers, thumbs and hands. This pain and stiffness may be the result of a Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI), which occurs when the same motion is repeated over and over again, for a long period of time, causing inflammation in the ligaments and tendons of joints," said Dr Raju Vaishya, President of Arthritis Care Foundation (AFC), New Delhi.
Those who indulge in long duration texting on social media and gaming on smartphones can suffer from wrist and finger joint pain and some times crippling arthritis of fingers. "In the age group of young children, longer use of gaming devices is associated with more pain," said Dr Ashwani Maichand, Senior Consultant and Director of Institute of Bone & Joint (MGS Hospital), New Delhi.
According to Dr Rahul Gupta, Senior Neuro and Spine Surgeon, Fortis Hospital, repetitive stress injuries can result from recurrent large or small movements that affect joints, muscles, tendons, and nerves. For example, people who frequently use their thumbs to type text messages on cell phones sometimes develop 'radial styloid tenosynovitis,' (also called De Quervain Syndrome or BlackBerry thumb or Texting Thumb Syndrome), a painful affliction that involves the tendons that move the thumb. Although the causal link has not been well established in patients who suffer from pain from prolonged desktop keyboard use, there's little doubt that overzealous texting can cause debilitating pain.
Dr Raju Vaishya said that most people use touch screen in unnatural and wrong postures. Stress related injuries can also occur when people use their bodies in ways that induce physical stress, such as tilting their hands too far inward or outward while tapping or putting force on their wrists while typing. 'Carpal tunnel syndrome,' perhaps the best-known disease in this category, results from pressure on the median nerve in the wrist.
Neck and the cervical spine that supports it are highly susceptible to poor posture, which can compress or stretch on the nerves that exit the spinal cord. "So resist the temptation to bend your neck forward or backward and especially avoid turning your head or tilting it to one side or another for prolonged periods. Take frequent breaks, and if you feel any pain, numbness, or tingling, stop what you're doing immediately and find a more comfortable position," advised Dr Rahul Gupta.
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