SMS boom leads to digit damage
2006-02-21 13:29
London - Mobile telephone text messaging
has become so popular in Britain that millions of users now
suffer injuries to their thumbs and fingers because of their
love of keeping in touch, according to a survey on Tuesday.
Over 93.5 million text messages are sent every day but all
this digit action has lead to an explosion in people reporting
cases of repetitive strain injury (RSI).
Thirty-eight percent more people suffer from sore wrists and
thumbs due to texting than five years ago and 3.8 million people
now complain of text-related injuries every year.
The survey for Virgin Mobile found the texting phenomenon
shows no sign of slowing. Over 12% of the population
admit to sending 20 texts per day and 10% confess to
sending up to 100 texts every day.
While psychologists say it is important for people to
communicate there is a danger that using arms-length tools like
texting and e-mail is making people uncomfortable with more
intimate face-to-face conversations.
There has even been concern voiced that some people run the
risk of becoming addicted to excessive texting.
Last March Scottish factory worker Craig Crosbie was crowned
the world's fastest texter after he took just 48 seconds to type
out the 160-character message: "The razor-toothed piranhas of
the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious
freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a
human."