Woot! I made it, last day!

Don't tell anyone but not being excessively on my phone wasn't that hard and it is something I actually plan on continuing. Like really how many tweets will someone tag me in within the 5 minutes I hadn't checked my app. Like 1 or 2.

The heat was runner up in my book to just doing nothing when it came to the pain. Cold compress was a negative but it was also interesting to see how much my body changes and reacts to something as simple as temperature.

Truthfully this whole "therapy" "experiment" could come down to 1) I need bigger hands, 2) I need a bigger phone, 3) I am old, 4) Over usage is a thing.

Like I said at the beginning of all of this, I am a phone addict. I love having my phone on me, near me, within reach but these three days I have let my child go to sleep away camp. It made me realize, we need each other but not necessarily ALL the time.

My hands aren't 100% healed but they definitely feel better; there is no denying that.

So to everyone else who has ever felt weird hand pains before assuming you are going to lose each finger slowly (like I thought), just take a break from a thing that you notice as a constant in your life aka your phone. Maybe a break isn't possible for you (this was only possible because I had 3 days…err well two days off from work) but even putting the phone down an hour before you head off to bed is sure to give your hands a well deserved break.

Hands are with us forever so it is time to start treating them with care. Shoutout to my hands for allowing me to try this little experiment, I hope you enjoyed your stay-cation.

Thanks for following this journey with me. What a weird one it has been but well worth it in the long run. LONG LIVE HANDS!

XOXO

Oh hey….so today I decided I would do cold compress on my hands to see if that made a difference and it did. In a not so lovely way. My hands cramped even more! Here is hoping heat applied on them tomorrow will sort this all out.

Still, I am not complaining, they are way better than on Sunday. As I have continued this journey of phone breaks and actually realizing how often I use my hands, it is pretty clear that I overwork and to the bone (no pun intended….okay pun totally intended).

This morning, I headed off to my cardio kickboxing class which I love so much but I also spend 45 minutes after, lifting. Lifting is not exactly "strain-less" when it comes to hand activity. Then throughout the day I was completing assignments for my online course that required me to be cutting, scrunching, drawing, dying. So while the phone maybe be just one small way I am overusing my hands, there are so many other ways.

So am I old? Is that basically what this little "test" will show me? That I am old and my hands are just going to be like this. It is even scarier to think that we will be the first generation that will be able to show how cell phone usage has affected us since most of us have had phones since we were 10. Sure my parents didn't have cell phones in their hands when they were 10 but its not like they were just sitting at home sitting on their thumbs (pun intended…again).

Researchers, it is time to start studying our youth and following them into adulthood because I need to know if hand pains will be more common at a young age because of their usage. Perhaps that can be my thesis paper when I become Dr. Mavis.

Take care of your hands and listen to your body. Hand therapy has been helping my realize I am not alone in this weird premature hand pain thing I've got going on. While others suggest just getting a bigger phone so it won't be as small in my hand, I suggest putting the phone down every once in awhile. Believe me, the Instagram app you just checked 5 minutes ago probably has one or two new photos; perhaps check it every 3 hours.

Well, you know what I am off to do….read a book!

Until next time! XOXO

Pretty proud, only times I used my phone was to 1) Send a picture to my friends of our grocery store being shut down, 2) to text my mom and 3) to use for driving directions.

Even in the past 24 hours, my hands feel better. Maybe it is all in my head but my thumbs are not nearly as in much pain as they were last night. I decided tomorrow I will ice and the next day I will apply heat.

Things I have noticed from not being on my phone:
-My hands still do a lot, like gripping and planks (shoutout to insanity and power lifting classes)
-My main source of communication is snapcaht, I've received 27 snapchats today alone
-Instagram on desktop is horrible but that's the only way I am keeping up with my likes
-It feels good to relax, kinda

Without my phone in my hand I tend to leave it home or in the car so I have become less worried where it is which is nice knowing I may not have accidentally left it on the treadmill or something.

Overall, this isn't a detox from my phone. Just a break for my hands. And it is helping.

Loads of you have weighed in saying how your hands have also hurt and how you've taken care of the situation. Overuse seems to be the main culprit. followed by smaller phone. So iPhone 6S, I'm looking at you to cure my hand pains.

The next two days will be interesting but if my hands already feel this much better after 24 hours of controlling my phone use, I can't imagine how they will feel by Thursday!

Off to bed, reading a book again, WHO AM I?

XOXO