Reprinted with permission from CNET News.com
Color associated with your thumb can have a positive association. After all, having a "green thumb" means that you are deft at gardening and yielding bountiful harvests of vegetables.
But these days, when you put in your thumb and a pull out a BlackBerry, you may mutter "what a sore thumb have I." Indeed, "Blackberry thumb" may be joining our modern-day vocabulary, as did "tennis elbow" some time ago.
According to a recent report by the American Physical Therapy Association, handheld electronic devices like Research In Motion's BlackBerrys, Palm's Treos and Danger's Sidekicks are rapidly becoming a source of chronic pain and injury for device users.
There obviously is a price for smallness.
Handheld devices can lead to repetitive-stress injury, which can cause pain and numbness in the thumbs and hand joints, as noted by Margot Miller, the President of APTA's Occupational Health Special Interest Group. She points out that this results from people spending far too much time using their handheld devices for sending e-mails and instant messages, and for surfing the Internet for work and personal reasons.
Miller explains that handheld-device abusers are more likely to develop physical problems. These are people who use their devices at least several times a day for more than short periods of time. Symptoms can include swelling, throbbing and tendonitis. Furthermore, overuse of handheld devices can aggravate underlying conditions such as arthritis.
In the world of portable devices, smaller has been deemed better, in terms of the convenience of not having to lug around bulky equipment. However, there obviously is a price for smallness. The keyboards on handheld devices are quite tiny, and much thumb use is required--yet the thumb is the least dexterous part of the hand, as notes Miller. Thus, the risk of thumb injury increases exponentially.
So what are handheld device users to do? Besides taking a break and smelling the real-world roses once in a while (which your columnist highly recommends), employers can train employees in terms of best ways to hold and use handheld devices. Employers can also encourage employees to send only short e-mails on their devices. Employers have an incentive in this regard, as they want a healthy and able work force, and they want to minimize their own potential liability with respect to employees who have been injured by working on employer-provided handheld devices.
Miller advises people to pay close attention to what their bodies are telling them. For example, if you start feeling pain in the thumb area, treatments such as icing, stretching, using a properly fitted thumb splint and even getting cortisone injections can be warranted under various circumstances. Miller states that surgery sometimes is necessary.
Of course, it's better to head off a problem becomes it becomes serious. Miller recommends that upon the onset of symptoms, a handheld-device user should seek out a physical therapist. And apparently, some resorts now are offering hand massages to soothe the aches and pains caused by handheld-device use.
I can assure you that no thumbs were damaged in the creation of this piece, as it was typed on a full keyboard in front of a computer screen and not on a handheld device.
Eric Sinrod is a partner in the San Francisco office of Duane Morris. His focus includes information technology and intellectual property disputes. To receive his weekly columns, send an e-mail to ejsinrod@duanemorris.com with the word "Subscribe" in the subject line. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author's law firm or its individual partners.
This article is for general information and does not include full legal analysis of the matters presented. It should not be construed or relied upon as legal advice or legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. The description of the results of any specific case or transaction contained herein does not mean or suggest that similar results can or could be obtained in any other matter. Each legal matter should be considered to be unique and subject to varying results. The invitation to contact the authors or attorneys in our firm is not a solicitation to provide professional services and should not be construed as a statement as to any availability to perform legal services in any jurisdiction in which such attorney is not permitted to practice.
Duane Morris LLP, among the 100 largest law firms in the world, is a full-service firm of more than 600 lawyers. In addition to legal services, Duane Morris has independent affiliates employing approximately 100 professionals engaged in other disciplines. With offices in major markets, and as part of an international network of independent law firms, Duane Morris represents clients across the United States and around the world.
