South African teenagers’ mania for communicating via cellphone is taking its toll on their thumbs, according to a study in the latest issue of the SA Medical Journal.<\/p>\n
The study was conducted by Safura Karim, the Durban Grade 11 schoolgirl who five years ago had a similar study on PlayStation use published in the journal.<\/p>\n
She said in the new study that 318 of the 320 teens she interviewed at two city high schools used mxit or similar text message forums on their cellphones.<\/p>\n
Just over half of the group had at least one of the primary symptoms of repetitive strain injury: pain or tingling in their necks, hands or back.<\/p>\n
A total of 125 of the teens reported blisters on their fingers after engaging in messaging.<\/p>\n
"The thumb is the least dextrous of all our fingers and is not suited to the repetitive movements required to type on a cellular phone keypad," Safura said.<\/p>\n
Her parents are both medical doctors. <\/p>\n