"Blackberry Thumb" Causing Drastic Reduction In HitchHikers WorldWide

Millions of BlackBerry wireless handheld addicts are losing control of their thumbs.

We have all seen them... banging away on their tiny handhelds in Starbucks, punching out long emails in the Mall, hammering those tiny little buttons that seem to have been designed for a 5-year olds hand, not an adults.

Well, things are coming full circle now.

Repetitive motion injuries, which have long afflicted other electronic device users, are invading the miniture handheld world.

Excessive use of a miniture keyboard CAN result in thumb seizures and amputations in extreme circumstances.

Just ask Billy Brice from Arkansas "I used to use my blackberry for work, I would email my buddies if I found a good fishin spot, or fresh road kill... now my thumbs hurt so bad I have to use this other finger to open my beer. And to make matters worse I can't use the TV remote, so I have to yell at my wife all the time to make her put it on the right channel!"

No statistics yet exist on how many people suffer from this type of thumb ailment, but police say there has been a drastic reduction in the number of Hitchhikers on our highways over the past year and a half.

Specialists say the thumb, considered by experts as an island because it is set apart from the other fingers, is among the least dexterous digit and is not meant to be rigorously worked out.

On the bright side of this story, Blackberry-thumb is causing a increase in the ergonomic and hand-expert job industries.

Reported by:
Michael Valiant