Ask a Doc: What Is Texting Thumb?

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Cellphone use can lead to car crashes, bad sleep, and terrible posture—not to mention texting thumb.

Yes, texting, swiping, and scrolling can send you to the hand doctor as well as to your favorite apps.

Using a smartphone or tablet requires hand motions that put stress on several small muscles, tendons, and nerves in our fingers and wrists. These repetitions can lead to inflammation, pain, and even surgery.

To find out more about these technology-driven hand injuries, we spoke to Dr. Eugene Tsai, a hand and upper extremity surgeon at Cedars-Sinai.

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Dr. Tsai: Yes! I see a lot of patients because of their cellphone use.

Most of the problems involve the thumbs, pinky fingers, and wrists, and texting thumb—also known as trigger thumb—is one of the biggest issues.

Texting thumb may be more associated with smaller phones. The larger smartphones and tablets usually cause pain in the pinky fingers and the wrists.

Dr. Tsai: Texting thumb is a tendon issue.

Basically, the tendon in the thumb becomes inflamed as it rubs repeatedly against the tunnel surrounding it.

This inflammation soon leads to thumb pain around the knuckle. Patients may also experience a clicking sensation when bending their thumb.

Texting thumb may be more associated with smaller phones. The larger smartphones and tablets usually cause pain in the pinky fingers and the wrists.

Dr. Tsai: With the larger and heavier phones, what I’m seeing is people will rest the larger phones against their pinky finger as part of their grip.

That constant pull on the joint puts stress on the pinky, leading to pain.

It would help to get an accessory that takes some of the pressure off the pinky finger while gripping, or you can downsize your phone.

Dr. Tsai: I see patients with pain around the base of the thumb and wrist, which is a condition called De Quervain’s tenosynovitis.

When you hold something like a tablet or large cellphone in a vertical position for an extended period of time, the two tendons that run between the wrist and thumb become inflamed.

Holding your phone while scrolling with the same hand can exacerbate it.

This has also been known as "mommy’s thumb" because it happens to new mothers who are constantly picking up their babies.

To look for De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, we’ll perform what’s called the Finkelstein test. You tuck your thumb into your fist, and that stresses that tendon. It’s an easy way to check for that specific tendinitis and pain.

Wearing a splint can help ease the pain of De Quervain’s tenosynovitis.

Dr. Tsai: All of these conditions stem from inflammation, so we treat the inflamed tissue with rest, anti-inflammatories, injections, and—in the most severe cases—surgery.

Altering your daily routine to allow the thumb and wrist to rest is helpful.

If pain persists or returns, then we may consider steroid injections. These injections help alleviate inflammation for a time.

If the injections aren’t offering long-term relief, then surgery is the next step. With texting thumb and De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, we’ll open up the tunnel around the inflamed tendons to give them more room to work.

These are minimally invasive surgeries that can be as short as 15 minutes. Recovery is usually 2-4 weeks.

In the end, the best way to alleviate pain and stop it from coming back is to change your smartphone and tablet habits.