The sudden shift of workstation and classes from offices to home is causing unseen problems among computer and mobile phone users. The ‘New normal’ is causing musculoskeletal injuries among many ‘work from home’ practitioners.
It has its direct impact on bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments and soft tissues. Orthopaedic practitioners call it the musculoskeletal system stress, which is emerging as a serious health impact of Covid-19.
Cases of text neck, selfie elbow and texting thumb are becoming common due to over-dependence on screens and improper sitting arrangements at home, either for attending classes or working from home.
In an interview with the Observer, Dr Sachin Singh (pictured), senior senorthopaedic and arthroscopy surgeon, admitted that musculoskeletal stress injuries are rising due to various factors, including excessive texting, playing video games, and even taking too many selfies. Such practices are leading to repetitive musculoskeletal stress injuries.
“Parents and children are spending more time on various screens at home which is seriously affecting their health and now a new study reveals that students are making excessive use of their mobile phones during the lockdown.”
Citing the study covered in the ‘Sustainability’ journal, Dr Sachin said, “It relates the number of hours that young people spend sitting down, their level of physical activity and state of mind when using a mobile phone.”
In his practice as a specialist Dr Sachin, is coming through cases involving young students and others in day-to-day outpatient.
“They are unaware of the risk of injury from their smartphones. Selfie elbow, texting thumb and text neck are colloquialisms that describe overuse musculoskeletal injuries associated with increased use of smartphones, tablets, computers and video games,” he said.
So, what are the symptoms?“Common complaints neck pain, elbow pain, hand, wrist and thumb pain, as well as numbness and tingling in the arms, forearms, hand, and fingers.”
Dr Sachin suggested some preventive steps for all such cases. “To get a selfie, people usually extend an arm as far as possible to cover everyone. This motion causes the elbow to lock, wrist to contort and puts strain on your forearm muscles. All of this can result in trauma to the tendon that connects to the elbow joint, and that’s not something our elbow joint equipped for.
He suggests keeping a selfie stick that may help to some extent that can help keep your elbow in and cover maximum people.
The best solution to avoid ‘texting thumb’, according to Dr Sachin is, “to take breaks while gaming and texting. In-between games or levels, stretch your fingers and wrists to keep them loose. Icing your hand or running it under cool water can help as well.”
Similarly, ‘text neck’ is an overuse syndrome or a repetitive stress injury to the neck caused by holding the head in a forward and downward position for an extended period. Dr Sachin suggests exercises and stretches to increase the neck’s strength and flexibility, correct postural habits when using smartphones and other devices.
“Raise the phone. Move the phone (and other devices) up closer to eye level so the head does not have to be tilted forward,” he suggests.
Apart from these, “It is advisable to take frequent breaks, stand up straight, stretch, and exercise regularly, and the best option of all is to cut screen time.”
‘Text neck’ is an overuse syndrome or a repetitive stress injury to the neck caused by holding the head in a forward and downward position for an extended period
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