The Negative Effects of Excessive Mobile Phone Use on Our Health

Written by Nahir Abdel Nabi

Saturday, April 29, 2023 05:00 PM

Mobile is an integral part of our daily life, as it is the first thing we eat in the morning and the last thing we see before going to sleep at night, and our phone addiction has no hope of quitting, and according to what was reported by the British Telegraph newspaper, there are indications that our health is beginning to be affected by excessive use of it..

One of the most prominent symptoms of phone use is the so-called “tech neck,” which is the result of turning our heads down to look at our phones.

This leads to neck, shoulder, and upper back pain, as well as tension headaches, all of which can linger long after you put your phone down..

Eyestrain

The most common complaint resulting from phone use is eye strain, as we tend not to blink as much as we usually do when staring at a phone screen..

We only blink one to three times a minute compared to the usual 20 times, which leads to dry eyes and sometimes blurry vision..

Even more stressful are the dull eye pains and headaches caused by eyestrain caused by keeping your focus fixed on one spot for too long, as the brightness of the phone screen can exacerbate the problems..

Hand and wrist cramps

In parallel, one out of every five phone users suffers from hand and wrist cramps, and one in ten suffers from repetitive stress injuries..

Hand and wrist problems are becoming more common, especially with the trend towards larger phones, as they put more pressure on our muscles when we hold them..

While many of us also hold the phone in the same hand that we use to scroll and click, which is a bad idea, because it forces the muscles of the finger and thumb to try to grip and stretch at the same time.

Lack of sleep

One of the main problems caused by excessive use of mobile phones is lack of sleep, as half of British adults do not get the recommended seven or eight hours of sleep per night..

A recent study issued by the research center highlighted Onward Highlighting how using the phone in the hour before bed leads to sleep disturbance.

For many years, it was believed that the blue light emitted from phones was the culprit, preventing our bodies from producing the sleep hormone melatonin..

But according to experts, light of any color right before bed can cause sleep problems, due to the endless stimulation it provides, making it almost impossible for the brain to stop working..

Lack of focus

Messages on your phone or the sudden urge to check social media cause you to become distracted, as our attention becomes too distracted due to information overload.

It causes our brains to never rest as they never get a proper break, and they make us never focus 100% on a single task..