Could You Have Blackberry Thumb?

By Jimmy Daniels
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews

In today’s’ society, as more and more users use the tiny handheld devices like the Blackberry, Treos, Sidekick’s and others, it was bound to happen, now we have an ailment named after one of these devices. It’s called Blackberry Thumb, and if you’re a gamer, you know their pain.

Repetitive motion injuries, which have long afflicted desktop and laptop computer users, are invading the mobile handheld world.

There’s even an informal name for the malady — “BlackBerry Thumb” — a catch-all phrase that describes a repetitive stress injury of the thumb as a result of overusing small gadget keypads.

“It affects business because I can’t whack away on my BlackBerry like I used to,” he said. “It’s just too painful.”

No national statistics exist on how many people suffer from this type of thumb ailment, but some doctors say they are seeing an upswing in related cases, said Dr. Stuart Hirsch, an orthopedist at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, N.J.

“It’s mostly the road warrior who prefers to answer e-mails on a thumb keyboard,” said Hirsch. “If all you did was just answer with a simple yes and no, it would not be a dilemma.”

Source: Yahoo

We Say: If you need to type that much on your Blackberry, maybe you should just call them and leave a voice mail, save your thumb for your gaming system. You have to have your priorities straight.

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