How Your Smartphone Affects Your Body
We live in a World dominated by Technology.
And almost everyone living on this planet owns a smartphone - 6 billion people (out of 7 billion) !
In comparison, "only" 4.5 billion people have access to an actual toilet.
So that's less people having access to sanitary facilities than those who own a phone.
We use our phones a lot - of course, I do too!
Smartphones make our lives so much easier, we can quickly google whatever we want, navigate, text, email, post on social media, or take photos.
The average person picks up their smartphone over 200 times a day!
And there's actually been a new term created for everyone that's a little too addicted to their phone - "NoMoPhobia", the anxiety of being without your smartphone.
Why is it so hard for us to put our phones down?
Many of the interactions we do on our phone are connected to rewards - which release dopamine.
When you play a game on your phone, or get a "like" on social media, or get a funny meme sent by your friend, all of these things make our brain release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that has the nickname "happy hormone". We feel rewarded, it puts us in a good mood, and we want to keep going!
And it doesn't always have to be a reward - our brains are constantly seeking for new information, which it also reward.
This is the so-called "Compulsion Loop" - the same loop that is associated with human behaviour under the impact of nikotine or cocaine.
That's exactly what the apps on our phones do - constantly supplying us with new content and new information.
Effects on your back
Our head alone already weighs about 12 lbs.
When looking down at your phone, the angle hurts your back and it increases the weight even more - it actually has the same effect as if 60 lbs (about an 8-9 year old child) was sitting on your neck.
People spend over 4.5 hours a day looking down at their phone. And let's not forget about the time spent on our laptops, very often hunched over !
This condition is also called "Text Neck" , and scientists suggest that the number of patients suffering from this back pain and spine damage will dramatically increase within the next 30 years.
Effects on your eyes
This has led to a very significant rise of Myopia - "Nearisghtedness".
In the 1970's about 25% of US citizens suffered from Myopia. Around the 00's, this number has risen to 41.6 % - and it has probably increased even more until 2016.
In some asian countries, the numbers of people suffering from Myopia is as high as 80% !
Effects on your sleep
Studies have shown that technical equipment like phones, tablets, laptops or TVs all have blue lightemit from their screens.
This blue light tricks our brain into thinking it's daylight, and therefore signalizing us to stay awake.
It also decreases the time we're able to sleep in 'deep sleep', and decreases Melatonin levels (which promote good sleep).
That's why scientists suggest not to look at any technical devices / screens 1 hours before going to bed if you're suffering from insomnia.
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Effects on your fingers
Recent studies of the University of Zurich have shown that fingertips of smartphone users are much more sensitive than those of people who use an old phone (or none at all.)
They did several tests and recorded increased brain activity when the fingertips of their index finger, middle finger and especially the thumb were touched.
This means that we now have more brain activity whenever we touch an object with our fingertips - depending on how often we use our touch-screen smartphones.
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© Sirwinchester
Useful topic! For your text neck, stretch your back on the wall. Put your back of your head on the wall feels like touching the wall slightly. Stay more than 5 minutes. It's not going to be easy if you have a text neck and a crooked back. You have to keep doing this stretch at least 10 to 20 minutes a day.
very helpful, thanks for the input!
To me, phones already seem to be somewhat anachronistic. I´m confident that the neck-impairing "looking down on your display" exercise will be soon be solved with the rise of ocular devices. Many other problems with (mental) health implications will remain though. Great post, thanks!
you're right, I can imagine that too.
I'll be interested to see how technology and health develop in the future
I think in the future this stats will be more and more scary. Because people learn since the childhood to be dependent of that kind access to information and socialization using the tools that smartphone have to offer. Theres no away that people will stop depending of that technology, by the contrary, we need to do everything as fast as possible in your day-to-day life, and smarthphone will evolve to provide this needs.
Of course in the world there are many things that people don't have acess. But we cannot compare to smarthphone, they don't are guilty for the poverty that we see in the world. And, for some cultures, to have a smartphone and to depend of it is more important than other basic things.
By the away i try every day to use less the smartphone. Just because i don't know how to filter the good and the poor information that we have in internet. Most of the time i end to lose in facebook and i really wasting my time with a lot of bad information.
By the away, good post and info. I liked the subject.
nomophobia.. that sounds ridiculous but actually it's true, so many people are truly addicted to their phone nowadays
almost a little scary how technology is having an impact on our body and health!
well our bodies weren't built for smartphone usage..
we will see how this develops in the future, and if the smartphone industry is eventually going to do something against the health disadvantages
first of all, great post, this is a good example for an ideal steemit post.
I think while phones have so many advantages and make our lives so much easier, we should really think about the side effects and if it's worth it.
Of course I use my phone every day too, but whenever I read things like this I think to myself - shouldn't I try limiting my habits?
the blue light part got me. I've been suffering with insomnia quite badly and maybe my use of technology has something to do with it?
Whenever I can't sleep I just sit on my phone for hours in bed
our phones probably make our fingers more flexible and faster too, if you think about how fast you can type on a keybord or on your phone!
there must be some improvements as well
that's true - I've heard similar studies about the hands (fingers) of gamers being much more flexible and have a quicker reaction time
technology has changed our lives so much already - I bet there will be many more health problems coming up in future decades that were created through the use of technology at some point