I started noticing pain in my right wrist a few months after getting a new phone with a massive screen.
When I'm typing on it or using most apps, I have to hold the phone with two hands, but I still control almost everything with my right thumb. My right wrist is where I have the most pain.
I wondered: Is my giant smartphone giving me carpal tunnel?
This purchase also roughly coincided with my employment here at Tech Insider, where I'm using a computer to write stories all day. My right wrist pings with pain as I type this.
So either way, I figured technology was making my wrist hurt.
This is a common refrain that many people share: blaming computers and phone use for carpal tunnel symptoms.
But it turns out that this assumption isn't really backed up by science.
A comprehensive review of the scientific literature analyzed 18 different articles that looked at the possible link between computer use and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), excluding the studies that weren't done very well.
"This meta-analysis and previous reviews come to similar conclusions," the researchers wrote. "It has not been possible to show an association between computer use and CTS." They did note that extensive mouse use could be linked to carpal tunnel, but they needed more evidence to know for sure. And other reviews support their conclusion.
While many scientists have studied the tenuous connection between computers and carpal tunnel, barely anyone has looked at the possible effects of using a giant smartphone long-term, so that link is still up in the air.
I turned to Dr. Aaron Daluiski, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery, for some real-world advice. He told me he's not convinced technology is specifically causing carpal tunnel, especially because the problem existed before computers were even invented.
Carpal tunnel occurs when a specific nerve in the wrist is compressed, causing numbness and tingling in the hand and fingers. If people repetitively do a lot of fine motor skills every day — like tying fly fishing flies, or using a trackpad — Daluiski said, that could possibly cause it.
"It's the combination of squeezing those tendons, using your fingers, and squeezing them together that causes tendinitis," he explained. "That tendinitis can increase the size of the tendons, and ultimately cause pressure on the nerve."
But the pain that people report from using computers and smartphones could turn out not to be carpal tunnel at all. Dr. Daluiski said his patients often come in thinking they have carpal tunnel, when in fact it's another issue like tendinitis, arthritis, or a ganglion cyst (which is painful but usually harmless, and often goes away on its own).
Daluiski wonders if our excessive use of technology these days could be exacerbating the already existing problem of carpal tunnel.
"The question that comes up routinely with patients, and I think it's a really good one, is: Because we're using computers, and iPhones, and smartphones more frequently, is that contributing? Maybe it is," he said. "Maybe the fact that we're working more with these repetitive tasks can have an influence. But I would still stand by that I think it’s agnostic of the device" — that lets my giant smartphone off the hook — and "possibly that we're just using our hands more in these more specific tasks."
Daluiski also shared his tips on using a mouse and keyboard correctly with me.
The key is to make sure your hands are positioned correctly. Remember, also, to take breaks. Your device isn't giving you carpal tunnel, I learned. In fact, avoiding all that pain is at least partially in our control.
Every half hour or so, I look down at my wrists to see how far off I am from following his advice.
We have to live with this technology, so we might as well do whatever we can to prevent it from hurting us.
And if the pain truly becomes unbearable, it may be time to see a doctor.
