Five ways your phone might be harming you and what to do about it

A girl using her phone. 

Are you always on your smartphone? Have you bumped into people while texting or looking at something on your phone? If so, you are a smartphone zombie. In Hong Kong, you would be part of what they call 'The Head-Down Tribe'. In China and in Belgium, they have created extra lanes specifically for people like you. You have probably once had a mini-heart attack for a fleeting moment when you thought you had lost your phone, which you quickly recovered from when you located it in the pocket you put it back in one minute ago. The chances are that you have a smartphone addiction. That mini-heart attack might have been a false alarm, but there are real health threats from phone usage, such as:

1. Texting Thumb

A study conducted by Virgin Mobile found that reports of sore wrists have risen significantly with the increase of the number of cell phones over the past few years, with millions of text-related injuries being reported every year. The condition is serious enough that Virgin Mobile once ran a campaign dubbed 'PractiseSafeText' aimed at combating the condition. Constant texting causes strain on the wrists and thumbs and leads to Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI), which in turn cause inflammation of the tendons that support the movement of the thumb. This condition is known as Texting Thumb and is medically referred to as De Quervain's syndrome. The symptoms include pain in the thumb or wrist, soreness, swelling, and weakness in grip strength of the affected hand.