May 24

May 24 Is Your Mobile Phone Making You Sick?

Most of us are pretty glued to our phones all day, every day. We’ve all heard the criticisms of excessive mobile phone use, from damaging the way we communicate with our friends to causing us to be less productive, but did you know that your phone could also be causing damage to your mental and physical health too? Here are some of the ways that your phone could be making you ill, and what to do about it.

Mental Health

Your phone can certainly a negative impact on your mental health, in lots of different ways. Using your phone can become almost addictive to some people, damaging your ability to concentrate on anything else, and distracting us from other things, whether we’re scrolling instead of talking to people to finding we’ve missed that film we’ve been dying to watch because we just stared at Twitter instead.

Social media can also have a negative impact on your wellbeing. It can be all too easy to let social media suck you into making comparisons between yourself and others, and finding that your own life is wanting, whether you’re envying someone else’s job, relationship, or body.

If your phone is denting your confidence, or you’re spending more time on than you would like, you should consider setting limits. Some phones will show you how long you spend on each app, which might shock you out of staring at Instagram all day. Put your phone down earlier in the evening. Overhaul your timeline as well. Unfollow anyone who makes you feel bad about yourself, and instead, fill your feed with content that inspires and emperors you.

EMFs

EMFs are electromagnetic fields, and many people about the long-term health effects of exposure. Mobile phones are low-powered radiofrequency transmitters, so many people worry that they could be causing damage to our bodies through EMF. While some studies show that the levels aren’t high enough to cause problems, there are some measures to take for your own peace of mind if you’re still worried.

Limit your phone usage, or look into a shield or blocker, which claims to re-tune the frequencies, rather than block them entirely. You could also look into making use of fabric that blocks EMF in your home or clothing.

Germs

Mobile phones are a hotbed for germs. We handle them all day long, use them in public spaces, and if we’re honest, most of us don’t clean them very often. Viruses can live on surfaces for a long time, so if you’ve got germs on your hands and then held your phone, those germs will hang around on your phone screen even after you’ve washed your hands. If you’ve coughed or sneezed onto your phone, or someone else you’ve let use your phone has, then these germs will stick around too.

All those germs on the surface of your phone can mean that you’re more likely to catch colds, the flu, or other illnesses. To stop this from happening, remember to clean your phone. Don’t use liquids to clean your phone. Check with your phone’s maker to see if they have advice for how to safely clean your phone.

In general, the safest way to clean a mobile phone is to use a microfiber cloth or cotton swabs, rubbing alcohol, or disinfectant wipes. Be very careful not to get water or cleaning products inside the phone. A gentle wipe is enough.

Problem Skin

If you’re someone who loves to talk on the phone, rather than send text messages or use social media, then you might have noticed that your skin is developing problems like acne in the area where you hold your phone against your face. As with the germs problem, this is because the average phone is pretty filthy. Old makeup, pollutants from outside, and all those germs are being held against your face as you chat on the phone, so it’s not surprising that your skin isn’t happy about it.

Make sure you clean your phone. Disinfect it, and always give it a quick wipe if you notice makeup or anything else has got on it.

Text Thumb and Text Neck

Some phone users report that they experience pain in their necks and thumbs from using their phones a lot.

Tendons run up the side of your thumb, and when the thumb is overused, for example, for excessive texting and scrolling, those tendons become swollen and uncomfortable. To combat it, try holding your phone differently. If you hold the phone in both hands and use your thumbs to type, switch to one hand, or use the ‘pick and peck’ method, typing with a straight finger or a stylus, instead of a flexed thumb. If you notice pain in your thumb, don’t push through it. Stop, put the phone down, and give your thumbs a rest. If the pain is very bad, you can take anti-inflammatories to help.

Text neck is neck pain caused by hunching over your phone. Most of us hold our phones lower than eye level or in our laps, and then lean over them, which causes terrible posture. Keeping your shoulders rounded, or your neck flexed forward, you’re going to put pressure and strain on your muscles, which can be very uncomfortable.

Try to avoid hunching over your phone all the time, and pay attention to your posture. If you do struggle with neck pain, something very common in office workers as well as mobile phone obsessives, then you can ease some of the discomforts with regular stretching. Try yoga designed for those who work at a desk all day, which will focus on the shoulders and neck. You can ease out the kinks safely, and improve your posture with yoga and stretches.

If you’re concerned by how much you use your phone, and the potential impact on your health, the best thing to do is work on cutting down your phone time. Set limits for daily use, and ask your friends and colleagues to keep you accountable.