“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?”
Maybe their chiropractic problems stem from wanking it too much Dr.
It’s funny that this Dr. is so SERIouS about it too.
Thanks MDN for having the most user friendly feedback/posts site.
Just came from appleinsider, whadda hassle
Hey… lets start a class action lawsuit.
MDK keyword = for
as in “for god’s sake people… grow a damn brain!”
davida, there’s nothing “neo” about Bush’s brand of fascism. If you go to Mussolini’s original definition of fascism (it’s all over the web, including wikipedia, but try this: <http://www.politicalcrossfire.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3543&highlight;=> ), it describes Bush’s administration perfectly.
<or in the case of many individuals – too much masturbation>
bstoned,
you’re doing that with your thumb???
sum jung gai, I do appreciate the clarification, you are correct. I wonder if this will get coverage in the so-called ‘liberal press’, (wish it was!).. check it out, just reported on Friday… http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1,1249,635160132,00.html ….the times will be achangin’ soon, thank God.
MW ‘took’, as in Bush took us for a ride, thankfully its almost over.
Why is it that eveything new is always a health risk?
I think I’m going to sue my school for requiring a calc that gives me “calculator thumb” *just kidding, but honestly, this is absurd.*
Brigham Young ought to fire the troll.
Of course, “Less.”
They should fire anybody who tries to study anything that’s not officially approved by our fearlessly Fascist leaders. Heil Bush, mein Freund!
Hate is not a family value.
Who would Jesus torture?
No democracy was ever built by an invasion force.
“My inclination was to support the government and the war until proven wrong, and that only came later, as I realized we could not explain the mission, had no exit strategy, and did not seem to be fighting to win.”
—G. W. Bush on Vietnam War, in A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House
Reads better without the “not,” SJG.
“Repetitive Stress Injury” (RSI) – has been PRVEN to be a LOAD of crap.
Just an excuse from lazy people who wanted to get out of work and jumped on by “Quacks” that wanted to make a buck (eg “Carl Irwin, from the British Chiropractic Association”)!!!!
Unfortunately this whole load of “RSI” crap was “INVENTED” in Australia by lazy office workers keen to make a buck off their employers.
The “condition” didn’t exist before the 80’s and “broke out” in an office in Sydney. Then “spread” around the world as people learnt of a new way to scam money for nothing.
Bah Humbug!
my 2 cents
Luke
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OOPPPS – PRVEN should be PROVEN
Also notice how these “RSI” cases first occured in OFFICES and now have “spread” to manufacturing industries. Funny seeing that manufacturing jobs had and still have A LOT MORE REPITITION than office roles, yet for CENTURIES no one in these jobs suffered this debilitating “condition”. Then some dodgy office workers create a scam and now all these factory workers are getting the same disease caused by using a typewriter repeatedly!!!!???
BALONEY!
Luke
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It’s a dry read, but explains my point of view extremly well:
http://www.szasz.com/spillaneremarks.html
Highlights include:
“Throughout the 1970s the number of new cases of ‘musculoskeletal disease’ recorded each year showed no tendency to increase. But in five years from 1979 to 1984 the number jumped (in one state-New South Wales) from 980 to 4550 new cases per year, an unparalleled increase. By 1983-1984 RSI cases represented nearly 30% of total disease cases in compensation statistics.”
“Large organisations, particularly in the public sector and in other Australian states, recorded similar increases….almost 4,000 cases were recorded in Australian Government organisations in the December 1985 quarter alone. However, the incidence pattern was inconsistent with exposure to repetitive tasks. Some organisations remain ‘unscathed’ whereas others with similar work patterns reported outbreaks of epidemic proportions (eg Telecom, Commonwealth Bank of Australia). Of those organisations affected by the RSI epidemic some noted a pattern which suggests a contagion effect in that workers were affected in quick succession (Deves and Spillane, 1989). Australians were clearly involved in an epidemic which until 1982 did not have a name – RSI had not yet been invented.”
“By 1986, RSI had been called ‘Repetition Strain Injury’, ‘Retrospective Supplementary Income’, ‘Runaway Social Invention’, ‘Golden Wrist’, ‘Kangaroo Paw’, occupational neurosis (Spillane and Deves, 1986). It had entered the workers’ compensation arena to such a degree that in the March and June quarters of 1985 NO (my emphasis) Australian government employee who applied for compensation for RSI was REFUSED (my emphasis).”
NOTE: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is NOT a fake disease (it has clinical signs AND symptoms (eg pain)) As opposed to RSI which is simply symptom (i.e. a COMPLAINT of pain) with no clinical signs.
“The idea of RSI is thus firmly rooted in the notion of complaint, unlike established diseases (for example, carpal tunnel syndrome) which are based on independent signs. A sore arm is a complaint, ‘it’ might be a lie. Symptoms without signs are communications not diseases, complaints not ‘conditions’ until proven otherwise.”
Oh well I’m sure some chiro’s and potentially some lawyers will make a few bucks out of this stinking pile of crap!
Luke
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This is the kind of thing you get when you let crybaby bed-wetting liberals run around free.
—
Yeah, all those left wing pinko lawyers… er… always lookin for a quick buck.. what a liberal attitude. pfft..
Dumbass
HEY I GOT MY IPOD ABOUT 6 MOUNTHS AGO AND I HAVE USED IT EVEY WHERE I GO SINCE THEN AND I GOT TO SAY MY ELBOW HURTS SO BAD IM GOING TO THE DOCTERS IN A FEW DAYS IM EVEN HAVEING A HARD TIME TYPEING WITH MY IPOD ARM SO ANY ONE WHO READS THIS DONT TAKE IT AS A JOKE I FOUND THIS ARTICAL I FEW DAYS AFTER I GOT MY IPOD AND LAUGHED AND 6 MOUNTHS LATER ITS NOT SO FUNNY WELL THATS ALL FOR ME I JUST HAD TO PUT MY 2 CENTS IN LATER PPLS
I’ve got ipod dick, it doesn’t say anywhere in the manual about what part of your anatomy you are supposed to use to scroll 🙁
some of these people are so crazy, there is no need to criticize! This post is not to bring us down in life, it’s so you know what actually is happening when you use these devices. It’s not telling you to stop whatever you are doing but to be cautious about what you do. Some of they people are so ignorant! Of course your arm and neck are not gonna be paining just because you are nodding your head to a beat. If your fingers pain from scrolling and then your neck and arms, it’s because all the nerves are connected. It will have an effect on your neck too! Sucks man1 Some people need to just grow up.
Has any of these critics ever heard of the term “ERGONOMIC”? Before they go out of proportion, they should try some more research. when you are using a keyboard and mouse it is not the same as scrolling through your iPod, it’s just constant tapping, not moving your fingers in circular motions! It’s not just with the ipods, it has to do with anything we use that has a touch screen. i.e laptops, ipod touch, etc. And what’s with all the sarcasm?? The people did not put this up so you can go sue apple, it’s for your health. Like what the hell….so your your relative or friend is smoking, we know that smoking is dangerous for health, go ahead and sue the cigarette manufacturers!! These people are so clumsy!!