Claim: Arthritis comes from too much texting

Question

This claim is partly true. Arthritis can come from many different things but mostly comes from repeated movements and affects the joints used to make that movement. When texting, you are moving your fingers in a rapid unnatural movement. This causes strain on the joints and arthritis may develop overtime with age or genetic makeup depending on the individual.

Answer 1

While this claim has some truth to it, it is ultimately incorrect. The article states that “when you text, your thumbs move quickly and often. The repeated, unnatural motion can lead to tendonitis and inflammation of the thumb flexor and tendons. Overuse can cause inflammation and pain associated with arthritis.” Upon first reading this, it seems to be true and logically it makes sense that putting a lot of stress on your thumbs can lead to joint pain and arthritis. Although, after further research, I discovered that according to Dr. Natalie Azar, “repetitive movement actually doesn’t contribute to arthritis. It can exacerbate underlying arthritis, but it’s not a direct cause.” She goes on to say also that there isn’t any definitive data that points toward texting as a cause of arthritis. This directly goes against the claim of the article provided, thus proving it to be false.

Answer 2

The claim "Arthritis comes from too much texting" is not true. Arthritis can be caused by many different factors causing joint pain, stiffness, and inflammation. Osteoarthritis is the most common arthritis which happens as you naturally age. Another cause of arthritis is developing gout where you have too much uric acid in your blood. Some other main causes are your immune system damaging your joints on accident, certain viral infections, and sometimes arthritis happens with no cause or trigger. Some things that can factor into getting arthritis is family history, obesity, smoking, or having an autoimmune disease. So although texting has no confirmed evidence that it causes arthritis it can lead to pain through repetitive strain worsening any existing arthritis.