RSI from texting and ‘iPod finger’

Published by GadgetSpy February 26th, 2006 in Gadgets, Mobile Phones, iPod, Misc.

There have been previous warnings about iPod finger (we think this should be iPod thumb - excessive use of the scroll wheel) Virgin Mobile said this week that almost 4 million Brits suffered from text message related injuries.

The survey found that 38% of texters suffer from sore wrists and thumbs which equates 3.8million cases of RSI per year.

10% of those surveyed also sent over 100 texts a day. (which does sound a little excessive, get those RSI exercises done asap text addicts!)

Last October a 19 year old racked up a four thousand pound bill by sending over 700 texts a week

Virgin Mobile have setup a dedicated site @ http://www.practisesafetext.com/

Safe Text Exercises

Stop these exercises if you feel any pain otherwise you can do more harm than good.

In your texting hand:

Tap each finger with the thumb of the same hand. Repeat five times.
Pull your thumb firmly with the other hand. Repeat five times.
Wrap an elastic band around the tips of fingers and thumb and open your hand against the resistance. Repeat 20 times.
Palms down wrap an elastic band around each thumb and force apart. Repeat 20 times.
Tap the palm and back of your hand on your thigh as quickly as you can. Repeat 20 times.
Massage thumb web, back of forearm and front of forearm. Two minutes.
Press and rub in a circular motion the painful nodules in those muscles. Thirty seconds for each nodule.
Reach up high with both arms and shake your hands. Reach down low with both arms and shake. Repeat three times.
Arms at 45 degrees, squeeze them behind you.
If it still hurts after a week of doing exercises, wrap an ice pack on sore hand and arm parts. Do not put ice directly on the skin but wrap in a thin cloth or piece of kitchen roll. Ten minutes on, 10 minutes off. Repeat three times.

And some other advice