Texting pains

12^th November 2009 - Texting may be more popular than talking on the phone for many young people, but too much text messaging may increase the risk of neck or shoulder pain, a new study shows.

Judith Gold, assistant professor of epidemiology at Temple University’s College of Health Professions and Social Work in the US, presented evidence at this year’s meeting of the American Public Health Association suggesting that the more college students texted, the more pain they reported in their necks and shoulders.

RU txting 2 mch?

In 2008, a survey for the social networking site Bebo found that an average teenager sends 10,000 text messages a year.

Dr Gold says in a news release that most people aged 18 to 21 prefer texting rather than email or phone calls, possibly putting the younger generation at increased risk of overuse injuries once associated with older people who’ve spent years hitting computer keys.

"What we’ve seen so far is very similar to what we see with office workers who’ve spent most of their time at a computer," Dr Gold says. "The way the body is positioned for texting - stationary shoulders and back with rapidly moving fingers - is similar to the position for typing on a computer.”

On her campus, she sees every student on their mobile typing away. "It’s the age group that texts the most, so it’s important to know what the health effects may be to learn whether it will cause long-term damage."

Text bundles can bring a bundle of pain

Dr Gold and colleagues conducted a study of 138 students to see if correlations exist between the number of text messages sent per day and pain in the upper body.

They used body maps for the students to indicate areas of discomfort. The students were asked how many text messages they sent per day.

The researchers say they found an association, only in male participants, between shoulder discomfort and the number of messages sent.

They believe that males might be particularly susceptible to physical discomfort related to texting.

Why would texting cause pain in the neck and shoulder rather than the wrists and arms? "We were really surprised at this also," Dr Gold tells us. "Remember, this is a preliminary study, and further research needs to be done to confirm the results."

In 2006, a survey for Virgin Mobile suggested 3.8 million people in the UK suffer from some kind of text related injury. It launched a ‘practise safe text’ campaign, with advice from the British Chiropractic Association:

• If texting starts to hurt. Stop. Use the other hand or call instead
• Vary the hand you use
• Vary the fingers and thumbs you use
• Don’t text for more than a few minutes without a break