KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Texting is so prevalent among teenagers that it’s leading to new health concern that was once not common in that age group.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is now being diagnosed more frequently in teenagers.
“The doctor said wear the brace for four weeks, and then, if it doesn’t feel any better, then I might have to get surgery,” said Hayle Krigel.
The Nielsen Company found that teenage girls between 13 and 17 years old send and receive an average of 4,050 texts per month; teenage boys an average of 2,539.
Dr. Charles Melone, Chief of Hand Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center, believes all that texting is to blame other problems such as tendonitis.
“It’s often confused with carpal tunnel because people have pain in their hands from overuse of texting, overuse of computers, whatever they use, a BlackBerry or an iPhone,” Dr. Melone said.
Doctors stress excess texting causes other problems, as well, such as sleep and attention span difficulties. They urge teenagers and adults to disengage from their phones everyday.
