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.

Answer 3

There have been many myths circulating on the internet about the correlation between arthritis and texting. Although texting involves movements in the hands that can cause pain, there is no direct correlation between the two. The article from UCLA Health provided the fact that “Overuse can cause inflammation and pain associated with arthritis.” Although this may seem like texting causes this disease, it doesn't directly indicate that it does. They claim that overuse can cause pain, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it causes arthritis. The UCLA health department also states that arthritis takes decades to develop, so there is no evidence of direct causation. From another article written by health reporter Caroline Kee, doctor Azar explains the effects of texting thumb by stating, “Technically, wear and tear can increase the risk of osteoarthritis, but there’s no definitive data at this point that texting causes this.” Texting can also increase pain in patients who are already diagnosed with arthritis. The symptoms of pain and inflammation from texting and arthritis are very similar, but there is no definitive data. If texting was targeted as a cause, it doesn't mean that other daily tasks using our hands aren’t causes, either, such as “Sewing clothes, writing, and drawing also require repeated fine motor movements of the fingers and thumbs,” Kee says. (https://www.today.com/health/aging/texting-thumb-rcna221770) Caroline Kee is a health reporter who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor's in Health Societies and has experience as a consultant for global health strategies. She has a strong history in this field of work, meaning she is a reliable source for data related to health. (https://www.today.com/author/caroline-kee-tdpn256937) Overall, this fact is false and can be misleading when read the wrong way. 

Answer 4

This claim is misleading, but partly true. In an article from Yale Medicine from December 6th, 2024, the repetitive motion on people's thumbs from excessive phone use isn't healthy, but the claim that arthritis directly comes from too much phone use is false. The excessive use of a phone may trigger pain and cause stiffness, but it does not directly cause someone to have arthritis. The article states it's important that more research needs to be done to fully understand if there's a connection between too much smartphone use and arthritis, but it's important to recognize the potential risks and preventive measures that come from smartphone use.

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/is-there-a-link-between-hand-pain-and-your-smartphone-use

Answer 5

According to Mayo Clinic, osteoarthritis (the most common kind of arthritis) is caused by wear and tear on the cartilage surrounding the body's joints. Due to the repetitive nature of texting, one would think that it could lead to this kind of arthritis over time. As stated in UCLA Health, this overuse can lead to inflammation and pain associated with arthritis. However, since texting is relatively new and arthritis takes decades to develop, the relationship between texting and arthritis isn't yet fully understood or developed. This claim that arthritis comes from too much texting is misleading -- texting can cause pain that is associated with arthritis, and can exacerbate arthritis, but the full relationship isn't yet known.

Sources

Mayo Clinic

UCLA Health

Answer 6

The title is exaggerated but partly true. What would be better, texting can cause increased symptoms of arthritis, especially central to the base of the thumb joint. Arthritis is inflammation and pain in joints, but according to Cleveland clinic there are over 100 types of arthritis-not all of which are in the realm of your hands. 

The article provided does not claim that arthritis is directly caused by texting it only explains that the carpometacarpal joint (the base of your thumb) may be under extra stress due to prolonged periods of texting. It is stated that "experts are starting to see a connection between gripping your phone and texting with increased symptoms of arthritis in the thumbs" This in no way is definitive evidence. The article also mentions that arthritis takes a prolonged period of time to develop, so there is has not been enough time to conduct proper research on texting's effect on arthritis. 

So while texting may cause arthritis symptoms there is no evidence that it is a direct cause of arthritis itself.

Sources: https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/can-texting-give-you-arthritis

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12061-arthritis

Answer 7

The claim that you can get arthritis from texting is sort of true. According to an article from UCLA Health, texting stresses out the joint at the base of our thumbs, which can lead to tendonitis or inflammation. The action of texting is unnatural, which is why the thumb flexor gets irritated and inflamed. Arthritis is a disease that causes damage to the joints, most often as a result of joints wearing down with age. It’s most common in people over the age of 50. This disease normally takes longer to develop, so there’s no concrete evidence that texting causes arthritis, but research points towards texting being a contributing factor or, at least, to it becoming one.

Sources:

https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/can-texting-give-you-arthritis 

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12061-arthritis

Answer 8

This claim is an exaggeration of a possible correlation, and wrongfully implies causation. At first glance, the article by UCLA Health describes that the overuse and repeated motions we use our hands for in phone activities is associated with thumb pain and inflammation - both of which can be early symptoms of arthritis. However, although the author spends a lot of time exploring the link between texting and arthritis, they state that "texting is a relatively new activity", and arthritis "takes decades to develop", so the relationship between the two "remains to be seen". Ultimately, UCLA Health displays to the audience that while there may be a correlation between excessive hand motions with hands and developing arthritis, correlation does not mean causation.

Another article that I found to factcheck this claim was by Yale Medicine, titled "Is There A Link Between Hand Pain and Smartphone Use?" This article investigated the pains associated with excessive smartphone use, and what different people reported to feel. It stated that it is "not yet clear if excessive phone usage can be the cause" of conditions like arthritis, it may be a source of aggravation to pre-existing pains. Overall, it seems that excessive phone use can lead to irritation of existing pains, but there is no evidence to prove a direct link.