Hundred Creative Solutions to Blackberry Thumb

  

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  1. Ask the guy sitting next to you to type in your email
  2. Just call the geezer you wish to send an email to
  3. Resign your hectic job and take up farming
  4. Buy a Blackapple – perhaps your thumb is just allergic to berries
  5. Type with a magnifying glass on – that way everything becomes larger J
  6. The thumbs on your feet are being underutilized. Start using them instead
  7. Marry a doctor or a nurse – or a lawyer L
  8. Tell your business colleagues you are illiterate and hence can’t type
  9. Recruit veteran video games players who still have their fingers intact – practice makes perfect
  10. Attend mobile devices de-addiction centers
  11. Buy mind-readable and mind-printable PDAs
  12. Invest in speech recognition technologies
  13. Just be relieved that it is just the Blackberry Thumb – It’s not AIDS
  14. Design Blackberry keyboards that can only be typed when set in a horizontal position and which you need not hold with the rest of your fingers
  15. Go drink a beer
  16. Invest in Blackberry’s competitors’ stocks
  17. Join the Taliban and live according to their tenets – you go back to the Stone Age where there are no automobiles, leave alone Blackberries!
  18. Join the “No to Email, Yes to Snail mail” movement
  19. Design artificial, robotic fingers and attach these to your palm.
  20. Type with your nose.
  21. Hang a board around your neck that says, “I’m Thumbetic, Please Don’t Send Me e-Mails”
  22. Pretend you have never heard the term blackberry
  23. Pretend you don’t have thumbs
  24. If you happen to meet the CEO of Blackberry on a flight, ask him to show you his thumbs – and hope he has got the blackberry thumb as well, at least some consolation.
  25. Just keep asking yourself the question, “Why did the black chicken cross the road?”. Soon you will be immersed in finding an answer to that difficult question and will forget your pain.
  26. Pray to your god that Osama bin Laden also gets the blackberry thumb – that will keep his mind diverted off planes for a while at least.
  27. Start asking yourself important questions like, “Why did they call it blackberry, of all names?!”
  28. Start counting from one thumb to the other – see, there are ten fingers and most of them are quite OK!
  29. Curse the chap who invented PDAs, mobile phones and all those abominable electronic gadgets that have descended like a curse on mankind.
  30. Check out if Hollywood celebrities have this illness too. If they can have it, at least you are in good company.
  31. Write fewer and shorter messages. And, use abbreviations. Get used to typing sentences such as, “LL C U 2moro @ Skul,” even if you happen to be a teacher of the English language. Your students might not thank you, but your thumbs will.
  32. Gift your Blackberry to the chap you hate most, and tell him he should use it all the time
  33. If you can’t find a solution for the pain, just continue sucking your thumb
  34. Tell yourself there is no gain without pain
  35. Try to invest a wonderful solution yourself – remember, where there is a problem, there is an opportunity
  36. Call up the company RIM and as them to change the name of the device to something less dark.
  37. Give the Blackberry to your dog and see how he works with it. Animals are supposed to do some things better than humans.
  38. Enrol yourself for a Phd in research for thumb pain research.
  39. Type with synthetic fingers that are extensions of your natural fingers.
  40. Forget work for a while and take a plane to Las Vegas.
  41. Curse the mobile and wireless economy a hundred times, or to your heart’s content, whichever is more.
  42. Start asking yourself profound questions like, “What is the meaning of life?”
  43. Start the Blackberry Thumb International Association and announce yourself to be its president. It might not find a relief to your pain, but who knows, it could lead the way for you to the White House.

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Blackberry Thumb – Treatments & Suggestions - Seriously

1.      Blackberry thumb refers to the chronic pain in one's fingers from overuse of handheld devices such as BlackBerries, Treos (Treo) and Sidekicks (Sidekick)

2.      Specialists say the thumb — considered by many as an island because it is set apart from the other fingers — is among the least dexterous digit and is not meant to be rigorously worked out.

3.      For people who insist on typing more than a sentence with their thumbs, external keyboards that connect to the gadgets may be a less painful alternative

4.      Treatment for BlackBerry thumb may include wearing a splint and applying ice to the affected area. If the pain persists, doctors may opt to inject the thumb area with a cortisone shot. Surgery may be required as a last resort.

5.      Every Hyatt spa in North America has added the BlackBerry Balm hand massage to the spa menu. It is an intense hand and arm massage that uses a host of acupressure and massage techniques to alleviate some of the discomfort and tension associated with rigorous 'texting' and typing on PDA equipment.

6.      Blackberry thumb is technically called "deQuervain's tendonitis" and is a result of irritation of the tendons along the thumb side of the wrist.

7.      deQuervain's was first attributed to washer women who would wash and then ring out clothes day in and day out more than 100 years ago. Back then they called it "washer woman's thumb"

8.      In some of RIM’s BlackBerrys, they have a reduced keyboard that's more like the keyboard on a cell phone. The software on the device anticipates the word that you're typing and the idea is that it will allow you to make fewer keystrokes. And that will reduce the load on the thumb.

9.      Instead of being forced to tap the tiny keys of hand-held keyboards, some manufacturers have developed fold-out versions that aren't too bulky and don't pose the same risks.

10.  In addition to taking advantage of ergonomically friendly keyboards, fancy massages and magical balms, gadget users might also try applying some common sense. The most commonsensical thing to do is give the thumb a break.

11.  The thumb is one of the least dexterous digits and is not meant to be rigorously worked out.

12.  A potential solution for users who type more than a sentence with their thumb is to use an external keyboard that connects to the gadgets.

13.  If you begin to notice tenderness around your thumb then it may be a good idea to apply ice to the tender area (for no more than 10-15 minutes at a time).

14.  Treatment for BlackBerry thumb may include wearing a splint and undergoing physical therapy. Massage can also provide some relief.

15.   People who use Blackberries a lot could suffer from osteoarthritis. The thumb is designed flex and rotate in all directions, it works differently from the fingers. The joint at the bottom of the thumb allows it to move like this and tapping away could cause it to become sore.

16.  Tips from the American Physical Therapy Association on how to avoid "Blackberry Thumb":

a.       Take frequent breaks from your personal digital assistant.

b.      Write fewer and shorter messages. And, use abbreviations, the APTA advises.

c.       Support your wrists so they are upright, and not flexed or bent. One way is to place a support on your lap.

d.       Try to avoid thumb-typing -- use your other fingers as well.

17.  The APTA also suggests exercises for sore hands, such as:

a.       "Tap each finger with the thumb of the same hand. Repeat five times."

b.       "Alternate tapping the palm of your hand and the back of your hand against your thigh as quickly as you can. Repeat 20 times."

c.       "Open up your hands and spread fingers as far apart as possible. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat eight times."

d.   "Fold your hands together; turn your palms away from your body as you extend your arms forward. You should only feel a gentle stretch. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat eight times."

e.   "Fold your hands together; turn your palms away from your body and extend your arms overhead. You should feel the stretch in your upper torso and shoulders to hand. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat eight times."

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Blackberry Thumb Synonyms & Other related terms

 

Repetitive Strain Injury

deQuervain's tendonitis

Text Message Finger

WAP elbow

 

Links (Hopefully useful)

 

High-tech Malady – The Dangers of Blackberry Thumb

Ergonomic Office Furniture

Think Outside Announces Blackberry Support – New Portable Keyboard for Enterprise CRM Users Addresses “Blackberry Thumb” – News Release (PDF)

The QWERTY Keyboard Was Not Designed for Mobile Devices

How A Blackberry Works – from How Stuff Works