Palm Pre Challenge: A Pain in the… Thumb.
Some of you have made the comment (with great care, I hope), that with all of the typing I do on my Pre my thumbs must be hurting by now. Well let me tell you… you have no idea. It’s just my muscle (no bone problems yet) and it is mostly just a constant dull pain (the type you feel after a heavy workout), but it is enough to make me reconsider typing so often and for so long.
My injury, since that’s what it is, is called Text Message Injury, or TMI, according to Ergonomic Times, which is kinda funny, considering it most often occurs in people who text (talk) too much. 3.8 million Brits have it, and now at least one American (me) does too.
How do we combat TMI? In case you aren’t able to put down the phone for a few hours during the day (I’ll start leaving mine off till noon each day for the rest of this challenge), you can also try these exercises (brought to you by that same Ergonomic Times article).
- Tap each finger with the thumb of the same hand. Repeat x 5.
- Pull your thumb firmly with the other hand. Repeat x 5.
- Wrap an elastic band around the tips of fingers and thumb and open your hand against the resistance. Repeat x 20.
- Palms down wrap an elastic band around each thumb and force apart. Repeat x 20.
- Tap the palm and back of your hand on your thigh as quickly as you can. Repeat x 20.
- Massage thumb web, back of forearm and front of forearm. 2 minutes.
- Press and rub in a circular motion the painful nodules in those muscles. 30 seconds for each nodule.
- Reach up high with both arms and shake your hands. Reach down low with both arms and shake. Repeat x 3.
- 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. 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off. Repeat x 3.
The muscle that is causing me the most pain is called the Thenar Eminence, though admittedly I am even getting used to the discomfort.
Have you had any pain in your hands after starting to use your Pre? What exercises or methods did you adopt to decrease the chances of permanent injury?
- Sent from my Palm Pre
The Palm Pre Challenge is a series of articles written by Tim Stiffler-Dean. For 30 days, he uses a Palm Pre exclusively for all of his computing needs. You can read all of the Palm Pre Challenge articles here.
Follow Tim Stiffler-Dean and his Palm Pre Challenge here on webOSroundup.com, or on Twitter: @anotherguy and #PalmPreChallenge. You can also see his personal blog AnotherGuy.us
