“Tennis players have their elbows, housemaids have their knees and athletes have their feet. Now users of the world’s most popular digital music player may have their own affliction – iPod thumb,” Fergus Sheppard reports for The Scotsman. “The condition is reportedly caused by the repetitive hand movements required when listeners use a wheel device on the player to navigate through lists of songs and artists. Music fans may enjoy the ability to spool through 10,000 songs on their iPods, but medical experts warn that jumping from tune to tune has its risks.”
Sheppard reports, “Carl Irwin, from the British Chiropractic Association, said: “This is a really serious problem. The action needed to move the wheel on an iPod is totally unnatural and effectively separates the joint in the thumb every time you use it. ‘This causes inflammation in the thumb or fingers and can be very painful. We have also seen cases of iPod users where the problem has spread to their elbow and neck.’ Mr Irwin said he expected to see a rise over the next six months of patients complaining of symptoms typical of repetitive stress injury (RSI). Children using their players for extended periods could be storing up problems for adulthood as their joints were still growing, he added.
“Apple, the maker of the iPod, has refused to comment on the warning,” Sheppard reports.
Full article here.
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Yet another reason for planning ahead and building proper playlists in iTunes and using iPod’s On-The-Go playlist feature. Are you scrolling your iPod’s Click Wheel constantly? If so, why? Do you have “iPod thumb?”
