Don’t push. The generalization of smartphones with touch screens has elevated our thumbs to the rank of superstars. Superstars who, ransom of success requires, suffer from a heavy status to bear. Hours of swiping, sticking, tapping, all in an anything but natural position.
However, is this detrimental to the good health of our thumbs? In fact, we do not yet know for sure, for lack of documentation on the subject. One thing is certain, certain pathologies of the hand and fingers are appearing in increasingly young subjects, and the intensive use of smartphones is undoubtedly not unrelated to this.
In 2016, a “study” commissioned by a British telephone operator claimed that the use of smartphones had caused “anatomical changes in part of the population”. Except that this study was in fact only a survey without scientific basis carried out among 2,000 users.
“The causal link between the daily and repeated use of telephones and joint pathologies is something that is debating”, recalls Doctor Aurélien Aumar, orthopedic surgeon specializing in the hand at the SOS hands unit in Lille. According to him, to determine with certainty that smartphones damage the fingers of young people, “it would take a cohort of 1,000 people aged 16 to 26 who would be followed over 30 years”. Which is not the case.
The average age of patients is falling
But if we cannot demonstrate to date, for lack of study, that the intensive use of mobile phones favors such or such articular pathology of the hands, there is all the same a bundle of presumptions which go in this direction. “What is certain is that in terms of osteoarthritis of the hand in general, and in particular that of the thumb, the use of the smartphone with the thumbs in opposition puts much more strain on the joints. Potentially, this can damage them in the long term”, recognizes the surgeon.
Of course, specialists do not see surging waves of teenagers with deformed thumbs from scrolling on TikTok. However, the average age of patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the thumb is falling: “we used to say that this disease mainly affected women over 55 years old. Today, 15 to 20% of patients are men over the age of 45,” notes Dr. Aumar. For him, if we cannot exclude exogenous factors, such as the massification of the use of smartphones, we must above all take into account the fact that we detect this pathology better and earlier.
When in doubt, should we let go of our precious ones? Not necessarily, the golden rule being the same as for alcohol: in moderation. Already, according to the specialist, you should not have delusions of grandeur and use a smartphone adapted to the size of your hand, “to avoid tendinitis”.
If the damage is already done, don’t panic. “You can consult a physiotherapist to correct defects in the use of the hand that cause pain,” explains the surgeon. For osteoarthritis of the thumb, fitting a prosthesis is also a solution. “It is an operation that is performed on an outpatient basis, specifies Dr. Aumar. This eliminates pain and recovers full functionality of the thumb. We can also restrict ourselves, while waiting for evolution to give humanity thumbs suitable for scrolling.