Audio/Video, Cell Phones, Computers, Video Games, Advice, BlackBerry
Are Your Gadgets Making You Sick?
Remember the old Stephen King flick 'Maximum Overdrive,' in which all machines suddenly go berserk and start murdering humans? While we're not quite there yet, lots of casual technology users are paying a very high price for the modern conveniences that their gadgets afford them: Their health, and, in some cases, even their lives, are in jeopardy. The next time you visit the doc (or a mortician) for one of the following ailments, you may discover it's your electronics that are to blame.
Sore Thumbs
The condition: The diminutive keyboards on BlackBerrys, Treos, Sidekicks and other QWERTY phones can wreak havoc on one's ability to signal approval with a good old "thumbs up." Pain, numbness, swelling and tendinitis are all symptoms of what the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) officially recognizes as "BlackBerry Thumb," caused by overworking the one digit that separates us from the apes.
How to prevent or cure it: Avoid BlackBerry Thumb by typing with your fingers instead of your thumbs, and not typing for more than few minutes at once. If you're already stricken with the ailment, several massage therapists now offer massages specifically for the treatment of BlackBerry Thumb. Engadget founder Pete Rojas went for one, which he chronicles here. Pete's assessment: "I don't think a single massage can remedy years of abuse!"
Sore Thumbs
How to prevent or cure it: Avoid BlackBerry Thumb by typing with your fingers instead of your thumbs, and not typing for more than few minutes at once. If you're already stricken with the ailment, several massage therapists now offer massages specifically for the treatment of BlackBerry Thumb. Engadget founder Pete Rojas went for one, which he chronicles here. Pete's assessment: "I don't think a single massage can remedy years of abuse!"
_thumbnail.jpg "Vintage Keyboards")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Den said 11:14AM on 4-22-2008
Carol; Someday when you run out of gas or are stranded in a storm, whether it be rain or snow you may feel a little sad you don't have one!!!
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1theodore2 said 6:44PM on 12-29-2008
every thing-almost-that we use today is electric,millions of sound waves-tons of micro waves-i wonder if there is any place left thats quiet-or-nill-or-waveless.
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Nicole said 2:19PM on 4-12-2007
Actually all the new gadgets and new technology I think is wreaking havoc ( sp ) on our hands fingers minds and lives. I am so guilty on this one but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in. I feel technology is taking away precious time we have on this earth. I know now maybe I shouldnt have baught my Zune mp3 player, I spent so much time on the computer trying to figure it all out, that I lost fun time with my kids. I kind of just want to erase everything on it and sell it now and I have had it for 1 single day. Cell phones? Well I am not a chronic user but they have helped quite a bit in important or scary situations. Hospital visits, family crisis, things like that. I have no idea whats so great about a Blackberry, maybe thats good that I dont know. I had no idea how great an Ipod was, so I got the newest craze, the Zune, yeah it looks great but its already cost me time and money, I am just not that into it I spose. I have alot of real life catching up now a days. Nicole
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Capitol Clothing Corp said 9:15AM on 4-13-2007
For great kids clothes vist this site!
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Steve said 2:26PM on 4-12-2007
how much for your ZUNE, LOL i am just kidding unless you are trying to sell it for less
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Matt said 3:00PM on 4-12-2007
Sounds like a disaster to me! id better stop laying with my cell (or stop typing 300 mph
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Matt said 11:27PM on 4-12-2007
i just recently got the cingular new smartphone 8525! its the newest phone they have out. its very very addicting. its kinda like the t-mobile sidekick, with the full slideup keyboard. i text all day, on the net allday also. I do ebay, and I am always haveing to check emails ect. ect... my hands do get sore sometimes. and when im not on my cell, im on my laptop. i think i actully sprung my finger awhile back, because it hurt so bad i couldnt move it for like 3 days, and but i have been typing so much! i love my cingular 8525! highly recommend it! and i love my dell laptop! its awsome also, i dont think i could live without them. but i will admit, it might take away from family time... but all the new technolgy helps keep the world intouch and alive these days! just though i would sharw what I had to say!
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brandon said 3:30PM on 4-12-2007
technology will eventually destroy the world, especially when it gets in the hands of people who have hardened hearts, who no longer appreciate honesty, integrity, or moral values and who then make business of misconception, and manipulation.
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Michael N said 3:19PM on 4-12-2007
When I have my wireless head phones on at home connected to my TV, I can hear the loud buzzing when I am near the cell phone. It makes the same buzzing sound when I approach the microwave.
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fergie said 3:20PM on 4-12-2007
ROBOTS FOR PRESIDENT.
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Dave said 4:14PM on 4-12-2007
The "ailments" so-called - ALLEGEDLY - caused by hi-tech items, are ACTUALLY caused by STUPIDITY. Lack of the once ubiquitous "common" sense is the cause of these "diseases", and of course, there is always a cottage industry waiting to "treat" these "ailments". Blackberry thumb MASSAGE? You GOTTA BE KIDDING! - ONLY IN AMERICA!!!
The most prevalent MYTH is that cell phones cause BRAIN CANCER. This is a CROCK, and is a candidate for inclusion on www.AssholesAmongUs.com - I have been a HAM Radio Operator since 1967 (WB2ANR). If RF radiation caused cancer, I'd be a lump of quivering tumors by now.
Among all the MYTHS one can conjure, is to blame TECHNOLOGY for STUPIDITY. If your child drinks flouridated water, he/she will develop BEHAVIORAL anomalies such as ADD and sometimes even AUTISM. If you take FLU SHOTS, you are 1000 times as likely to develop Altzheimer's disease.
Many of these MYTHS are dispelled on my Web Site at www.Net4TruthUSA.com - and you can download free MP3 archives of radio programs that discuss these and other LIES told by the media at: www.Net4TruthUSA.com/radioprograms.htm and you can be enlightened about OTHER lies told ny the government about "terrorist" attacks from www.Net4TruthUSA.com/videodocumentaries.htm
LEARN THE TRUTH, and STOP BLAMING TECHNOLOGY. If you use the WRONG TOOL to do your work, EXCPECT to pay the consequences. A BLACKBERRY was not designed for "touch-typing", but 90% of people who have them choose to write NOVEL-Length emails.
STUPIDITY IS THE PURSUIT OF IGNORANCE.
IGNORANCE PLEADS WITH YOU NOT TO FOLLOW.
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Carol said 4:20PM on 4-12-2007
I don't own a cell phone and never will. How many times a year is a phone call that important that it can't wait until you are at your destination? - seriously.
I strongly suggest that you all google 'The Greatest Biological Experiment Ever'. I also suggest you read 'Cross Currents' by Robert Becker. This is serious here.
EMFs from our gadgets are causing both our immune systems and pathogens to behave in abnormal ways.
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Trey said 4:57PM on 4-18-2008
Wow, Carol- You really need to relax a little and stop worrying so about what and who is out to get you.
James M. said 4:21PM on 4-12-2007
Mr. Conlon needs to do more research. Most Primates (apes,man,etc..)have opposable thumbs. And yes pain is a bummer.
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Carol said 5:12PM on 4-12-2007
Davem - by the way, radiation DOES cause brain tumors. My ex worked with radar and is a heavy cell phone user and just had one removed at 42!
So why don't 'all' cell phone users get cancer? We all are host to a variety of 'bugs' (bacteria, fungus, viruses). If you have a certain bug 'combo' and also are a heavy computer or cell phone user, bingo - you get cancer. You'll be sick here soon, Dave. You may or may not get a brain tumor, but unless you are germ-free, you will eventually come down with diabetes, heart disease, or any other of a number of diseases you are so certain are unaffected by technology.
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robbie said 9:13PM on 4-15-2007
gagets can not make sick or take your live the goverment is tring to scare us to make us work more instead working as much us we alway do. and tring to make more money.
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halicia said 4:53PM on 4-12-2007
i have a razor phone and i text message all the time,mainly with my thumbs and it hasent had an affect on me.like i mean u cant really blame cell phone's because while typing on the computer you have to use your thumbs to hit the space bar.you also have to use your other finger's to type so really people should not just blame cell phone's for their finger's hurting.
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lynn said 4:58PM on 4-12-2007
dave, Can you live without your cellphone, i-pod, computer, blackberry for one week. Sounds like you are in denial.All this tech is so artificial--- get real and enjoy life and nature, like Nicole said. Life is short and when it is over, perhaps you can say that you never missed a call, but you cannot replace the really important things you are missing with your ear, eyes, and head wired up!
I just retired my cell phone and I feel so liberated! I am working on the computer next. Never will have the other stuff, nor will I buy them for my kids (7). I want them to climb trees, ride bikes and fight with each other, rather than be oblivious to what and who is around them.
What a beautiful world!
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Ashley said 5:04PM on 4-12-2007
I agree that TECHNOLOGY will ruin us. In many ways it has. If the world was suppost to be so easy it would have been. They try to make virtual world better than real life. Thus making it were kids now no longer want to go out and play. They rather play video games and ruin they're eyes.
People who think its stupid to blame TECHNOLOGY are victoms of its grasp. They dont realize how addicted they really are. Rather than going out to a store to buy a new tv they feel the need to flop they're big asses down on a computer chair and click on ebay in their favorites.
We were built for labor which is proven everyday when we have obess kids entering a hospital for treatment.
I believe we have good use for our HI-tech stuff but its getting really pathetic.
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Justin said 5:21PM on 4-12-2007
I think electronics made they world better. If we didnt have cell phones then you might not even have wireless land line phones you know think about it
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