WhatsAppitis: What is it and how to prevent?

The use of smartphones has grown rapidly over the last decade. This coupled with the availability of affordable and practically unlimited internet data packs has contributed to people spending a significant amount of their day browsing social media and on messaging apps. It is estimated that smartphone users spend more than three hours every day on their phones. Millennials often look at their phone screens more than 100 times each day. The overuse of smartphones has resulted in certain peculiar medical conditions.

What is WhatsAppitis?

WhatsAppitis, also known as Whatsapp Thumb or Texting Thumb as a condition was first described in the medical journal The Lancet in 2014 in a 34-year old doctor who complained of pain in both her wrist joints and thumbs. It was found that she had inflammation of the tendons of the thumb due to continuous movement while messaging for over 6 hours. 

Whatsappitis is a repetitive stress injury that affects the thumb and wrist. Pain and sometimes a popping sound are present on the outside of the thumb at or near the wrist. There can also be a decrease in grip strength or range of motion.

Whatsappitis can be a form of tendonitis, tenosynovitis or a combination of both of those disorders. In either case, it means something is irritated, inflamed and swollen. In Texting Thumb there is an inflammation of the tendons and/or the synovial sheaths that cover the tendons that control the motion of your thumb.

It may also be an inflammation in the tenosynovium, a slippery membrane that acts as a sliding surface, in the opening in the wrist that the tendons slide through. Often the swelling from the inflammation in either the tendon or tenosynovitis causes irritation that leads to inflammation in the other after repetitive use.

It can be quite painful and reduce your ability to grip.

How is WhatsAppitis treated?

Treatment of WhastAppitis is just like most other medical conditions, and ‘prevention is better than cure’, here too. Keep your smartphone use in check. There are several apps that can track your daily screen time along with the details of time spent on different apps. Use this feedback to limit your smartphone usage.

Zanskar Pain experts suggest a few tips to help you avoid smartphone hand pain:

• While using smartphones, keep your wrists straight, try to hold your phone in both the hands
• Do not use your phone for more than 15-20 minutes at a time
• Avoid marathon browsing or messaging sessions
• The use of larger and heavier smartphones can further increase the risk of tendon injury. Using the voice message function of popular messaging apps may be better than typing the message in order to reduce the strain on your thumb.
• Consider splinting your painful thumb with the advice of a doctor to allow for internal healing.
• Application of pain relief ointments can provide significant relief. You can try Zanskar Advanced Pain Healing Cream with its potent bio-active formulation and no pungent smell for relief.

A periodic ‘smartphone detox’ can also be beneficial. If you already have symptoms of WhatsAppitis, your doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatory medications and a wrist brace in addition to the above. Evolution is a slow process. Our hands are yet to adapt to this swiftly rising use of smartphones in our day-to-day lives. Till then, we must be judicious with our smartphone usage.