I Like Big Phones and I cannot Lie....

A client came to me the other day and mentioned that they were experiencing pain in their hand.  Specifically the pain was in the most distal joint ( fingertip ) of their index finger. They pointed out a small protrusion that had appeared that they had not noticed before. They had been to their physician and the Dr. had prescribed the usual rest and ice and a follow up visit for a few weeks after if the symptoms did not subside and they would be sent to a specialist.

It had been more than a few weeks and their symptoms had lessened but the pain was still there. I suggested that they pull out their cellphone and send a text.

“Send a text? they asked .. to whom? “

“Anyone you like .. I don’t care .. text me for that matter.”

They grumbled a bit and then took out their phone and started to text.

“Now stop, don't move”  I said.

They looked up from their phone “Text don’t text what do you want from me?”

“Take a look at your phone and your hand.”

Sure enough their phone was nestled in their palm and their index finger was wrapped around it at a crazy angle. The same angle and in the same place as their mysterious finger pain. You could see the skin actually white knuckled around the joint.

The response was as I have heard before ..  

“Omg!” and then “What do I do about it? “

There is no easy response to that question. It can be as simple as shifting your grip to a new one for a while, or as complicated as surgery.  I won’t bore you with the long details of the muscles of the Hand and Forearm. But the common advice of stretching, rest and more often than not ice is not practical for everyday use of the hand. SImply stretching can relieve some tension but not address the root cause. The advice of not using your mobile device this day in age is pretty impossible by all accounts so rest is out; and more often than not hand pain can be traced up the arm into the shoulder and neck. As for Ice the jury is still out on if Ice does anything more than numb the pain. The fingers are merely the end point of a long chain of  flexing, tension, and torque that the body can no longer support in such a concentrated area. Holding your phone for hours at a time not just in short increments (checking social media, and gaming for example) places an extra strain on the area that it is just not equipped to handle. 

I included several hand exercises and techniques for self care into their program and after a few weeks my client was pain free and texting away again. (But holding their phone in a new way with assistance by one of those pop out holders from Target 14.99. I own one myself)

Helping you recognize these everyday issues is what REFIT is all about.  Helping you work through them is our business.  Give us a call and let us know how we can help you.