Up To Speed Video

Too much text fest? Avoid surgery from smartphone overuse with these tips

With smartphones and mobile devices becoming larger and larger — hello, iPhone 6 — more people are in danger of developing symptoms in their hands that, if not treated, can progress into crippling conditions that can only be addressed with surgery.

So before you continue taking drunk selfies and Tweeting self-important updates that include what you had for breakfast, one doctor suggests you slow down, listen to your body and seek help before it's too late.

"Hand problems are manifesting themselves more and more in younger people."

"Hand problems are manifesting themselves more and more in younger people," Dr. Randolph Lopez of Hand Surgery Specialists of Houston explains. "Patients wake up at night feeling like there's no circulation, they're shaking their hands, they have difficulty in the morning, and they have difficulty buttoning a shirt, for example."

Dr. Lopez suggests to try to figure out what precipitated the problem in the first place. Did you have a tense text fest the day before with an long-lost ex? Were you up late typing a long proposal for work?

If you can pinpoint a traumatic event that may have been the catalyst for the injury, Lopez suggests modifying or cutting back the behavior for a period of time, and try some of the stretching and strengthening exercises in this Cadillac-sponsored "Up To Speed" video hosted by Nicole Hickl.

"If you catch a problem early enough, patients have several non-surgical options available," Lopez adds.

Lesson learned: Never ignore a nagging pain. Unless that nagging pain is your significant other.

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Beyonce Super Bowl

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”

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