Posted on 25th Jul 2011 @ 1:16 PM

It's hard to picture a world without BlackBerries, iPhones, and tablets. We use our gadgets for everything from working remotely to making dinner reservations to wasting time while waiting for the bus. But the downside of all this technology is aches, pains and other conditions that our cave-dwelling ancestors wouldn't even recognize (they didn’t need ergonomic chairs, either!). Behold, the worst of the worst problems caused by the holding the internets in the palm of our hands.

1. Texting Thumb.

You show us a person without texting thumb and we'll show you a person who wonders why he hasn't gotten a phone call since 2007. Texting is ubiquitous, convenient and pervasive. It's also hard on our poor little thumbs. You'll recognize this condition by your sore thumb joints. Fortunately, there are exercises that can help.

2. iPad Wrist.

Brave reporters at The ErgoLab have dared to suggest that the iPad is not the most ergonomic of devices. They point out that the iPad forces users into "extreme static wrist extension" and also "static neck flexion." A docking device will help with the wrist issue, but the neck issues still persist.

3. BlackBerry Neck.

Here is a condition we have literally never spent one second thinking about before, but will now obsess over: BlackBerry Neck, a condition caused by bending over one's BlackBerry and characterized by excessive neck wrinkles. Neck wrinkles! It's not bad enough that technology is wearing out our thumbs and wrists. Now our vanity must suffer as well.

4. Acute Wii-itis

OK, you probably don't need to play Wii to get your work done. (Unless you design games for the Wii, in which case, we hate you.) But thanks to Wii Fit and other adaptions, the gaming console does far more than just encourage couch potatoes to vegetate. Which is great, except for the rising number of Wii injuries. Our favorite quote? Physiotherapist Darren Rivett: "You wouldn't play tennis for three hours straight so you shouldn't play Wii tennis for that long either."

5. iPod Finger

This almost feels like a classic now, since iPod finger has been with us since at least 2005. The condition isn't limited to your scrolling finger, either: Doctors say that problems can sometimes move all the way up to elbows and necks. It makes you sort of miss records, doesn’t it?