Lately I’ve been waking up with a mad sore neck in the mornings. I shrugged it off to poor sleep, but when the problem persisted I finally took a moment to look into possible medical causes. Immediately, I discovered a slew of ailments suffered mostly by teens and young adults caused by technology habits. Could my constant texting be to blame? Yes, yes it can. Poor posture, dependence and repetition are the root causes of the majority of these modern conditions. Here’s a list of some of the crazy health problems caused by too much tech.
Text Neck
Text Neck is a legitimate medical issue caused by looking down all the time. Teens and young adults are the most prone to the repetitive stress injury coined by Florida chiropractor Dr. Dean L. Fishman. The condition boils down to poor posture and neck strain. It is recommended you remedy it by lifting the phone to eye level when sending a message. Dr. Fishman claims text neck left untreated can cause serious permanent damage including flattening of spinal curve, decreased muscle strength, nerve damage, disc herniation and numerous other fear-inducing conditions. He opened the Text Neck Institute down in Florida for continued research, with a kitschy slogan of ‘Practice Save Text.’
Yogis believe practicing certain poses such as child’s pose, corpse pose and neck rolls can also help relieve symptoms of text neck.
Netflix Wandering Eye
I didn’t make this up I promise. Netflix wandering eye is more of an optical illusion than an affliction, but it does have an actual name. Here’s what happens. When searching through Netflix’s databases, titles scroll from the left to right. Our eyes get used to this motion, especially when engaged for long periods of time. When the scrolling stops a physiological reaction occurs where you continue to see the titles moving even though they’re still. There are no remedies to this other than I suppose to stop acting like a Libra and choose your movies faster.
BlackBerry Thumb
This was one of the first and is still one of the most common smartphone related perils. BlackBerry Thumb is another repetitive strain injury caused by using your thumbs in mass texting/emailing marathons. Symptoms include cramped thumbs and increasing pain, eventually leading to torn tendons. In rare cases, people have had to undergo surgery to repair the damage, which comes bearing a lengthy recovery period not unlike carpal tunnel syndrome. To avoid or lesson the effects of BlackBerry thumb, decrease the amount of usage and try typing with other fingers (awkward!).
Touchscreen Finger
Now before you laugh iPhone and Android users, beware that touchscreen finger is also a thing. This less seriously condition is caused by swiping your finger crossways across the phone. It is most likely to occur in the first few days of using a new touchscreen device, but can also occur with increased use. It has been known to cause redness and inflammation, eventually leading to blisters. The cure: restraint and if not then, calluses.
Tablet Slouch
Sit up slackers! Leaning over your tablet all the time can cause severe back and neck pain, not to mention migraine headaches. For this doctors recommend the same as they do for all these conditions: take breaks. Stand up, stretch, straighten out those muscles and go for a walk.
Insomnia and Fatigue
Using technology right before bed can lead to insomnia, according to researchers at the National Sleep Foundation in the States (and also to my sleep-deprived self). Dr. Michael Gradisar compared how passive technologies such as TVs and music differ from interactive properties such as video games, cell phones and the Internet. “The hypothesis is that the latter devices are more alerting and disrupt the sleep-onset process. If you feel that these activities are alerting or causing you anxiety, try doing something more ‘passive’ to help you wind down before bed,” he says.
Combine that with an addict-like obligation to respond to every late night text or email (or every between-snooze early alert) and the connection is undeniable. Urban Dictionary refers to this as “textsomnia.” They also credit “techsomnia,” that need to fix some sort of tech problem before going to bed, as a root of insomnia. The existence of these conditions is irrelevant to the lack of official medical diagnosis.
Stress and Depression
The addicting principals mentioned above contribute vastly to smartphone related mental health issues. Researchers believe constant use of smartphones can “numb the senses,” removing us from social interaction and inner peace. Chronic cellphone use can interfere with our sex lives, increase stress levels and contribute to depression. Experts liken this to a dependency on smartphones for satisfying or good news. “It’s like slot machines – we’re seeking that pleasurable hit,” says Cary Cooper, Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University. This addiction can also lead to anxiety-provoking withdrawal when without a phone. Professor Cooper recommends talking more face-to-face, increasing exercise and using the technology smarter (aka turn it off!). These recommendations easily apply to all of the above ailments.
Tech-induced health concerns have caused many parents to implement “electronic curfews” for their teenage children. I am considering implementing one for myself.
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Sheena Lyonnais writes about tech for Toronto Standard. You can follow her on Twitter at @SheenaLyonnais.
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