Is Your Phone Causing Thumb or Wrist Pain? Common Conditions and How to Manage Them

Experiencing wrist, hand or thumb pain after texting?

With the rise of technology and digital communication, it is estimated that over 90% of Australians own a mobile device.

With increased time spent on technology (averaging around three hours per day in Australia), smartphones and other mobile devices have emerged as a significant contributor towards upper limb musculoskeletal disorders, particularly of the thumb and hand.

Is Your Phone Causing Thumb or Wrist Pain? Common Conditions and How to Manage Them | Action Rehab - Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist and Hand Physiotherapists

Common signs and symptoms include:

  • Pain to the base of the thumb/muscle bulk
  • Hand and wrist pain
  • Swelling and stiffness
  • Locking or catching sensation
  • Weakness, cramping and muscle aches
  • Tingling, pins and needles, altered sensation

Common conditions associated with technology overuse:

Is Your Phone Causing Thumb or Wrist Pain? Common Conditions and How to Manage Them | Action Rehab - Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist and Hand Physiotherapists
Thumb muscle strain
  • Ache to the muscle bulk of your thumb
  • Pain with pinching and activities
  • Typically managed with load/activity modification, custom thermoplastic splint and targeted exercises
Is Your Phone Causing Thumb or Wrist Pain? Common Conditions and How to Manage Them | Action Rehab - Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist and Hand Physiotherapists
DeQuervain’s tenosynovitis
  • You may notice pain along the thumb side of your wrist
  • Irritation to the first extensor compartment of your wrist (the tendons that travel in this compartment are responsible for extending your thumb and abducting your wrist)
  • Thermoplastic splint to offload the tendons, manual therapies, progressive strengthening program
Is Your Phone Causing Thumb or Wrist Pain? Common Conditions and How to Manage Them | Action Rehab - Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist and Hand Physiotherapists
Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Common symptoms include tingling or pins and needles in the thumb, index and middle finger
  • Compression/irritation of the median nerve as it travels through the carpal tunnel in your wrist
Is Your Phone Causing Thumb or Wrist Pain? Common Conditions and How to Manage Them | Action Rehab - Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist and Hand Physiotherapists
Cubital tunnel syndrome
  • Common symptoms include tingling along the elbow, forearm or in the pinky finger
  • Irritation to the ulnar nerve as it travels through the cubital tunnel at your elbow
  • People often refer to this as the “funny bone”
  • The ulnar nerve can become irritated when leaning on the elbow for long periods of time or with sustained elbow flexion e.g., holding phone to your ear
  • Often treated with activity modification, nerve gliding exercises and night-time elbow splint

Tips and tricks for managing phone posture

  • Book an appointment with your local hand therapist if you have any of the abovementioned symptoms
  • Breaking up sustained phone posture (avoid spending continuous hours on the phone)
  • Use voice messaging tools: systems such as Siri or Google that convert voice to text, reducing strain on your upper limbs from excessive typing)
  • Alternating between thumb and fingers for typing (distribute load across multiple structures)
  • Alternating device types: texting, writing with a styloid, typing on a keyboard

Why should I see a hand therapist?

Tailored advice regarding activity modification

Your hand therapist will provide you with advice tailored to your work and hobbies, to enable optimal technology usage whilst preventing recurrence of injury.

Customised thermoplastic splinting

Your hand therapist can custom make a thermoplastic splint to offload the affected structures and improve hand function while you’re recovering.

Targeted exercises

These may include range of movement, nerve gliding, stretching and strengthening exercises.

References
  1. Deloitte Access Economics. (2022, March). 5G unleashed: Realising the potential of the next generation of mobile technology. Deloitte. https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-zone1/au/en/docs/services/economics/deloitte-au-dae-5g-unleashed-final-report-combined-230322.pdf
  2. Kurtaran, M. (2024). Comparison of musculoskeletal pain and upper extremity disability in smartphone addicts and smartphone non-addicts among university students: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 40, 279–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2024.04.041
  3. de Jesus Correia, F., Soares, J. B., Dos Anjos Matos, R., Pithon, K. R., Ferreira, L. N., & de Assunção, P. L. (2024). Smartphone addiction, musculoskeletal pain and functionality in university students – a observational study. Psychology, health & medicine, 29(2), 286–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2023.2176893
  4. Shikha Fathima. (2020). Effect of chronic smartphone use on upper extremity muscle activity and pain threshold. International Journal of Allied Medical Sciences and Clinical Research, 8(1), 85–90. https://doi.org/10.61096/ijamscr.v8.iss1.2020.85-90
  5. Xie, Y., Szeto, G. P. Y., Dai, J., & Madeleine, P. (2015). A comparison of muscle activity in the neck and shoulder region between smartphone users with and without neck pain. PM&R, 7(7), 720–726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmrj.2015.01.013

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