A pain in the neck

November 11, 2009

Temple researcher studies the effects of too much texting on college students

The world record for fastest text message typing is held by a 21-year old college student from Utah, but his dexterous digits could mean serious injury later on. Most adults aged 18-21 prefer texting over e-mail or phone calls, and ergonomics researchers are starting to wonder whether it's putting the younger generation at risk for some overuse injuries - once reserved for older adults who have spent years in front of a computer.

Judith Gold, an assistant professor of Epidemiology at the College of Health Professions and Social Work, thinks this might be the case. At this year's annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, she presented preliminary research which suggested that among college students, the more they texted, the more pain they had in their neck and shoulders.

"What we've seen so far is very similar to what we see with office workers who've spent most of their time at a computer," said Gold, who directs the Ergonomics and Work Physiology Laboratory. "The way the body is positioned for texting - stationary shoulders and back with rapidly moving fingers - is similar to the position for typing on a computer."

Text messaging is a fairly new technology, Gold says, so this is a new area of research among ergonomists. "But given the similarities in body position, findings from research on overuse injuries from computers could be applicable here," she said.

Current studies on computer use show office workers are prone to carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, and tendonitis.

In Gold's lab, she and her team use tools like infrared cameras, motion analysis and heart rate monitors to study the body's position in several job-related simulations. But given the prevalence of text messaging among young adults, Gold wants to delve further into the physiological effects of this latest form of communication.

"Looking around our campus, you see every student on their cell phones, typing away," she said. "It's the age group that texts the most, so it's important to know what the health effects may be to learn whether it will cause long term damage."

Temple University

---

---

	TextAppeal - For Guys!: The Ultimate Texting Guide by Michael Masters (Author) From the Author: Wouldn’t you like to know: Why she text you so much before but now NOTHING?? Why your multiple texts are killing the attraction? Why she is playing so hard to get? If she actually is interested in you? How to have her text you back immediately? How to safely flirt with the amazing results? How to have her waiting for your text rather than the opposite??? What if… She were the one texting you all of the time? You could get her to respond, right now!? You could get that really hot girl to finally pay attention to you? You stopped feeling so much anxiety over that one girl because too many girls were paying attention to you?? I promise you this, if you read this book and apply it's principles, you will have so much more success with women. Imagine, all of the cash...
	TextAppeal - For Girls!: The Ultimate Texting Guide by Michael Masters (Author) The world is changing, but are you changing with it? Now that dating has gone digital, is it still the same? Clearly not, the digital world is flooded with entirely new problems which rend many new relationships apart. Texting is one of those key areas that is so little understood in digital dating. Textappeal, has all the answers, not only what to avoid, but how to actually use this new medium to your greatest advantage. Any woman armed with this knowledge will certainly have a TON more SATISFYING dates, with a TON more men. Don’t underestimate this, I did, and I had no idea what I was destroying and completely missing! Communication is KEY and Mike shares all the secrets. - Kim Hess “Divorce Guru” From The Author Wouldn’t It Be Great To Know: • Why he isn’t texting you...
	Text. Love. Power. The Ultimate Girls Relationship Guide for Texting and Dating in the New Millennium by Publish Green Text. Love. Power. rejects the idea that women should be open and easy-going with their dates, and orders them to put down the smartphone if they want to get their man. In this riveting, controversial dating guide for the new millennium, Vanessa Taylor continues the work of Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider, authors of The Rules: Time-Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right. Endorsements: Don't send another text until you read this book cover to cover. Vanessa Taylor will take you all the way to the altar! -Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider, The Rules: Time-Tested Secrets of Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right Text. Love. Power. is an empowering guide for women in their challenge to find love, commitment and romantic connection with men....
	The Flirty Text Message Helper: Witty Texts For Clever People by Woodpecker Media From Mike Alvear, The Co-Host Of HBO'S International Hit TV Series, The Sex Inspectors… A Collection Of Witty, Flirty Pre-Written Texts You Can Send Your Crush! Can't think of anything creative to text that cutie you just met? Try one of the witty texts hand-picked by Mike's team of writers and researchers. Classified by 19 dating circumstances, there are no cliches, lame poems or cheesy pickup lines. These are real texts we've tested on guys and girls. For example: You: STOP. Likely reply: Stop what? You: Stop thinking about me. See, you’re doing it…right now. Use our texts for other situations, too. Let's say you want to make the other person jealous. Try this:
	Life, Love, and Texting (a teen romantic comedy) How do you tell the girl next door that you are in love with her when you're a shy sixteen-year-old boy? You don't, you text her! But Colton soon finds that when it comes to matters of the heart, it's best not to leave your fate in the hands of technology. Kai Michaels, in her romantic comedy debut novel, creates a hilarious story of friendship and first love aimed at the hearts of today's texting generation.
	Read Between the Lines: A Humorous Guide to Texting with Simplicity and Style by Shawn Marie Edgington (Author) Read Between the Lines is the essential guide for anyone who wants to utilize instant communication through text messaging. Through simple instructions, learn to use Twitter, communicate with your kids, understand the utility of texting, and more. With an extensive text lingo dictionary, every situation is covered in this texting survival guide. You'll be a texpert in no time! Learn to: -Improve daily communication across generations -Tweet on Twitter -Practice appropriate texting etiquette -Keep up with teen texting and know what to watch out for -Understand how educators and the hard of hearing use texting -Use texting in an emergency situation Includes full color interior with illustrations by Margarete Gockel.
	Evolution by jessINK Summary: A sample of stories by author/artist/non-conformist, Jess C Scott. Evolution showcases Jess's penchant for working in various genres and formats--read with caution. Genre: Short Stories | 12,000 words === * The excerpt from EyeLeash: A Blog Novel contains the opening chapters of Jess's debut blog/IM novel. Her collection of poems and short stories are available in her anthology, Porcelain. This version is for customers seeking a bite-sized tryout version of Jess's diverse storytelling styles (also available as a freebie on Jess's website). === Praise for Jess C Scott: "I dig your style." -- searchingfortomorrow.deviantart.com "[Please] keep up the good work . . . the world can certainly use some...
	The Parent's Guide to Texting, Facebook, and Social Media: Understanding the Benefits and Dangers of Parenting in a Digital World by Shawn Marie Edgington (Author) Today's youth are falling victim to the perils of social and mobile networking at an alarming rate. Textual harassment, cyberbullying, sexting, and online predators have become national epidemics. According to recent studies, about half of young people have experienced some form of online harassment. The Parent's Guide provides awareness, solutions, and preventative resources to keep your children safe and secure online. With defensive parenting and constant communication, you can teach your children about the potential dangers of social networking, empower them to protect themselves from online predators, guard their personal information, and preserve their online reputation. The Parent's Guide gives you the fundamentals of mobile messaging, Facebook, and other social media platforms;...
	TEXTING DICTIONARY OF ACRONYMS (FAMILY FRIENDLY EDITION) (FAMILY FRIENDLY EDITION, 1) by RANDALL C . MANNING (Author) Texting Dictionary of Acronyms (Family Friendly Edition) Is a comprehensive guide to distinguish and understand the language of today's texters. This edition has been edited for younger texters. Updated yearly.
	Txtng: The Gr8 Db8 by David Crystal (Author) Text messaging has spread like wildfire. Indeed texting is so widespread that many parents, teachers, and media pundits have been outspoken in their criticism of it. Does texting spell the end of western civilization? In this humorous, level-headed and insightful book, David Crystal argues that the panic over texting is misplaced. Crystal, a world renowned linguist and prolific author on the uses and abuses of English, here looks at every aspect of the phenomenon of text-messaging and considers its effects on literacy, language, and society. He explains how texting began, how it works, who uses it, and how much it is used, and he shows how to interpret the mixture of pictograms, logograms, abbreviations, symbols, and wordplay typically used in texting. He finds that the texting...