Technological advancements have brought humanity as a whole to great lengths. In fact, it’s technology that has allowed us to make many medical discoveries, improving lives worldwide. However, technology takes a toll on us, more specifically, our health. The cell phone alone could actually be shortening your lifespan, just in case you weren’t already aware.
Chiropractors across the nation are familiar with the term “text neck.” It’s very self-explanatory, as many angle their necks forwards so they can look down at their phones. This can cause discomfort, as it puts tons of strain on the muscles in your neck. Holding your head at this angle is very unnatural, but doing it repeatedly over long periods of time only increases the amount of damage the position does. If you’re looking down at your phone while reading this, you’re preventing yourself from being able to take a full breath of air. This means you don’t receive the full potential of oxygen you normally would, and you guessed it, could possibly shorten your lifespan. There’s a very quick and easy solution to this, which is to simply raise your arm so your phone is level with your face. Robotic necks have not been invented, but they will be if we allow ourselves to evolve into creatures with crooked necks.
There’s also the phrase, “text claw,” which refers to the pain you get in your wrist and hand after extended phone usage. The solution to this is blatantly obvious, put the phone down and explore the outdoors (and Pokémon Go does not count). And if your pinky or ring fingers are all tingly or numb, it’s probably “cell phone elbow” (aka nerve damage, seriously, go smell the roses).
Out of all the things that you can find online about cell phones causing damage to the human body, the creepiest doesn’t have anything to do with your bad posture. Some recent studies link cancerous tumors to cell phone radiation. That’s right folks, the radio waves from your smartphones could possibly give you cancer. Especially children and teens are at risk, as their underdeveloped bones and skulls can be more easily penetrated by radiation. The radio waves are emitted by a cell phone’s antenna, even when a call isn’t being made. Keeping the device close to your person continuously during the day gives that area of your body exposure to radiation. In 2011, the World Health Organization even classified cell phone radiation as a Class B carcinogen, backing up claims these common global devices could be the cause of thousands of cancerous tumors.
Now, the only phone-related injury on the internet that is completely bogus is the “smartphone pinky.” For some reason, it was this one that gained the most viral popularity, even though plenty of hand surgeons and scientists are saying it’s not possible. Photos popped up everywhere on Instagram and Twitter of people that had deformed their pinkies from too much cell-phone usage. But it makes more sense to trust the professionals on this one and say that’s probably just what your pinky has always looked like.
