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Excessive use of our mobile phone may be a risk to our physical and mental health

We are always saying that mobile phones and products of the new technologies in general make our life easier, but…what if we are misusing them?

Spending too much time with your mobile phone may have negative consequences both physically, on account of the posture we adopt when we use these devices, and mentally, because of the high degree of excitability of the nervous system caused by continued use of them. If you are not willing to limit the use of your mobile phone, you have to accept that you may suffer lesions as a result, such as:

Pain and stiffness in the hands and fingers

Spending hours on our mobile phone can literally get out of hand and have its consequences. One negative effect is feeling pain and stiffness both in our fingers and our hands; we may even feel a tingling as the muscles in our hand suffer as a result of pressing the buttons of the phone hour after hour. Tendonitis is very frequent, as the physiotherapist at HC Marbella explains.

Neck pain

This is a feeling of stress and tension in the area of the shoulders and neck. It is caused by overload on the muscles of the area on account of the unnatural posture as we spend too much time with our smartphone or tablet in our hands. The trapezius and the scapula suffer on account of this overload and cause pain. The trunk and spinal column may also develop a weakness (because of the lack of physical activity) and loss of the muscle that stabilises this system, all of which can bring on a loss of motor control.

Greater stress

Related to the effects of constantly keeping an eye on our messages, e-mails or updates in the social networks, our nervous system undergoes a rise in irritability, which causes anxiety, attention deficit and greater stress.

Head ache

Incorrect posture through overuse of mobile phones, tablets or laptops is more and more frequent and another of the consequences of these awkward postures is headache (tension headache) or even a feeling of dizziness because of the contraction of the suboccipital muscles that facilitate our head movements, if we spend a prolonged period of time looking at the screen of a device. An awkward posture can also cause pressure in the ears and eyeballs.

Insomnia

If we use our smartphone when we are in bed, it can only lower the quality of our sleep and even cause insomnia, on account of the extra brightness of the screen, which activates receptors in our brain, making it think that it is still daytime and we can stay awake longer. If we suffer insomnia through overuse of our mobile phone, we will also suffer irritability, sleepiness and lack of concentration, because we have not rested properly or sufficiently the night before.

Sources: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences / HC Marbella

January 2, 2020