In the digital era we’re living in, it becomes extremely difficult for all of us to tear ourselves away from technological advancements. Every now and then, you see people involved in some kind of digital activities. For instance, people could be playing video games, working on laptops, texting, scrolling through social media sites, etc.
Many of us spend the entire day on digital gadgets without even giving a thought that they can damage our thumbs. Often people are not aware of the term De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis. Have you heard of this term?
De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis is informally known as gamer’s thumb or texting thumb or mother’s wrist. When you are suffering from De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis, it is because of the overuse of the thumb. When the thumb muscles become sore, but you keep using them, without providing adequate rest, immense stress on the affected muscles causes inflammation in the supporting ligaments and tendons.
What Are The Symptoms That Lead To De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis?
When you are suffering from this condition, you would notice that you suffer from pain in the thumb, but there are other symptoms as well. You could experience pain in the wrist, swelling on the thumb, and the slightest movement of the wrist or thumb causes pain. Nothing will happen all of a sudden– the pain in the thumb and wrist would develop gradually. And within a few week’s time, if you are not paying attention to the pain, it will lead to immobility of the thumb muscles. The major cause behind this condition is repetitive grasping, pinching, or twisting of the thumb muscles. Besides gamers and other digital platform enthusiasts, pregnant women also tend to suffer from this condition because of hormonal changes in the body.
So, the very next question that would come to your mind is how to get a proper course of treatment… Chiropractic care or treatment is considered the best when it comes to providing treatment for De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis.
How Do Chiropractors Provide Treatment For De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis?
During your initial visits or sessions, the chiropractor would focus on getting knowledge about your lifestyle, habits, and previous medical history. After a brief consultation, they would suggest some ergonomic modification in your daily habits, which will help in reducing the overuse of the thumb, or exposure to such body positions that require the involvement of the thumb. After this, the chiropractor would employ soft-tissue therapy, which will help in reducing the inflammation and stress on the thumb tissues, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Besides soft tissue therapy, the chiropractor would also provide you with hot and cold therapy, which will help in reducing the stress from the tensed muscles and improve flexibility. As soon as your thumb starts feeling better, the chiropractor would suggest a few sets of stretching exercises, which would include the muscles of the thumb, wrist, and forearm. Manual chiropractic treatments, exercise, and enough rest will help in healing the condition, and the flexibility of the muscles would be restored.
Some of the exercises suggested by chiropractors for gamer’s thumb are explained below…
#1 Make use of a foam roller or a ball and keep rolling it on the thumb muscles until the pain reduces.
#2 Gently stretch the tendon of the thumb and hold the position for 30 to 40 seconds before relaxing.
#3 Do a gentle stretching of the forearms and palms and repeat the same motion 10 to 15 times.
#4 Try to curl the thumb in the fist, hold the position for 15 seconds, and then relax. You must repeat this at least 30 times to get relief and increase flexibility.
Although there are various medicines or pharmaceuticals available on the market that can help you get relief from thumb pain, chiropractors would not recommend them. Medicines would only treat the symptoms and not the actual cause behind the pain.
Summary:
We all know that social media and online games or video games are quite attractive, but that doesn’t mean that you should be spending long hours using them and injuring your body parts. If your thumb pain has been caused due to long working hours, then you need to take frequent breaks in between your work which will help to provide rest to your hands and fingers. If and when thumb issues become unbearably painful, consult a chiropractor for relief.