Many students text message friends in class just to make it through those 50 minutes, but it might be more than just their grades that are suffering. Their thumbs might be suffering, too.

A survey released by Virgin Mobile reported that cell phones are now the cause of 3.8 million cases of repetitive strain injuries per year in Great Britain. For the 700 million text messages sent every year in the United States estimated by Virgin, this could spell trouble.

Sherry Yang (junior-chemistry) said she thinks that in the last couple of years, many more students are using text messages more frequently.

"I do it all the time during class if I'm bored," Yang said. "I know people who have forgotten their cell phones for the day and can't live without it."

The survey's data were supplied through www.72point.com, which is an independent press agency in the United Kingdom.

Dr. John Scipione from the State College Family Chiropractic Center, 905 W. Beaver Ave., said people's increased use of technology on a daily basis has had many health ramifications.

"Just for instance, we're doing a lot more computer work now than we used to," Scipione said. "It's not just in the office place now but home as well."

Scipione said the kind of technologies people are using can also have potential health effects. "Now, there are much smaller devices, and you're having to use your thumb and hand much more than in the past."

For students who are used to text messaging, many feel it is not a very labor-intensive task. Linda Eck, manager of the physical therapy department at University Health Services, said a task does not have to be labor-intensive to cause injury, however. "As with any repetitive task, like keyboarding or mousing, if you're using the same fingers over and over again, you can get repetitive overuse injury," she said. "Any muscle can get fatigued if you use it for too long."

Eck said injuries like these are very common among students and not always minor, especially because they use computers and cell phones so often. "Some students don't leave their computers -- it's like they're chained to them," she said. "The pain can be anywhere from their wrist and hand all the way up to elbows and shoulders."

Students are not without a solution, however. Scipione said there are things students can do to avoid thumb soreness. "It seems silly, especially for small devices like cell phones, but people should take breaks," he said. "The more breaks you take from an activity, the more you can stretch the muscle in use."

Cara Jacobs (senior-telecommunications and history) said she wasn't surprised text messaging could cause injury, especially because students use them so excessively.

"It hasn't happened to me at all, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened to others," she said.

Jacobs said she sees students text messaging and using small technologies like cell phones all the time.

"There was a girl in my class who was blatantly IMing with someone," Jacobs said. "She wasn't just text messaging someone; she was actually IMing them on a mini-keyboard -- it's just nonstop."