BlackBerry Thumb - Laura Faber

You might want to reconsider how much you scroll through your BlackBerry, or it could mean trouble for your hand down the line.

Fox 17's Laura Faber explain's.

Carpel tunnel syndrome is a problem for millions of Americans who have repetitive hand or arm motion, like those who use a keyboard all day long.

Now there's a relatively new ailment related to a small high-tech device, called the "BlackBerry Thumb".

When Melissa Lejsek, a BlackBerry Thumb sufferer, isn't working at Skyline Medical Center, she's trying to balance work and home.

Lejsek has two kids at home and is responsible for everyone's schedule. Rather than have three separate calendars, Lejsek thought having one place to put it all would be great, so she brought a BlackBerry.

What Lejsek didn't realize is that her BlackBerry operates on a different service than her work computer, so entering appointments is tedious.

"Every night now I click on my outlook menu and go in and figure out what my appointments for the day are, one button at a time, one appointment at a time and feed it into my BlackBerry", says Lejsek.

What happens then to Lejsek is what hand experts are seeing more often called "BlackBerry Thumb". Cases of tendonitis and carpal tunnel are caused by BlackBerries and other palm-size technology.

Dr. Dave Alexander, a hand surgeon at Skyline Medical Center says it boils down to using part of your body, over and over again. In the case of the BlackBerry, it's your thumb.

"Certainly anything that causes one to overuse their hands or digit like your thumb will make you more prone to get tendonitis", says Dr. Alexander.

Tendonitis or trigger thumb is inflammation around the tendon. People age 40 to 50, especially women, are more prone to it. It can impact your life in a huge way.

"It can be very painful, it can be so painful people will refuse to bend their thumb tip with tendonities of the thumb it can get to the point where it requires an operation", says Dr. Alexander.

Anti-inflammatory medication, splinting and occasionally surgery are all treatments for tendonitis, but the best way to prevent "BlackBerry Thumb", don't use your BlackBerry so much.

We want to help you avoid "BlackBerry Thumb"and other technology-related injuries, so here are some tips:

- When using your mouse or typing at your computer, your fingers should be lower than your wrist when you type, don't elevate the back of your keyboard.

- Don't cradle your cell phone with your shoulder, it can cause compression of the spine in your neck.

- And to cut your time on the BlackBerry, only respond to urgent emails.