Do you know about the health risks that can result from your smart phone? Just like anything else in life, smart phones have advantages as well as disadvantages. Following are a number of risks to health that can result from smart phones use.

Bacteria

We carry our cellphones with us everywhere. Sometimes , we check our phones while in the bathroom. And we clean it quite rarely if any. So there are a lot of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms on them. In one study it was found that out of six there is one phone with E.coli bacteria. The good side of it is that phones are hard surfaces and on hard surfaces it is hard for the germs to survive. Still, it remains a good habit to wipe them from time to time

Neck

Staring down at the phone for long periods of time can cause some stiffness and spasms in the neck muscles. Some people can even develop nerve pains that radiate down to the back, shoulder or arms. You can avoid that by taking breaks every twenty minutes stretching and arching your back. Hold your phone higher when you text and try not lean forward a lot hunching your back. Exercises for posture from practices like yoga can help you prevent this texting effect.

Call Position

Some people responds to calls while doing something else and they pinch the phone between the the ear and shoulder. This is not a natural position. After using this position for long time, the neck hurts. It is better to avoid theses positions. It also will help to take breaks and move your neck in other directions. If you developed a neck spasm or pain, get rest and use a heating pad and maybe a simple OTC pain killer.

Driving

Many people send text messages while driving. This is unsafe. Just don’t do it. Sending a text needs your attention. Sending already written text takes 5 seconds of your attention at least, this is enough to cause harm. It your are driving at 60 km/hour, you will cross 80 meters in this time, almost a football field. This is more than enough to cause damage. It is estimated that, when you text you are 23 times more likely to crash. This risk is the same for text and voice messages.

Talking While Driving

Even only talking during driving increases the risk. It is not safe too. The likelihood of crashing when you talk during driving is 4 times more. Talking in the phone is responsible for more than a million accidents in US over a year, summing up to 20% of all car accidents including those with fatalities and serious injuries. If you think you really have to talk then pull over and talk.

Net at Night

Surfing the net during the night has a dark side. Human body evolved for an environment which is supposed to be dark after sun fall. Too much light can interfere with body circadian rhythms, disturb sleep and melatonin levels. Bad sleep is linked to many other disturbances including diabetes, obesity, heart conditions, and others. Blue light emitted by your phone is specifically bad. The advice here is to keep your room dark, avoid much of phone after night fall, and let your room get a lot of natural light during the day.

Either Talk Or Walk

When you send some text while walking you are more likely to have an accident. Although it takes a few seconds but it is enough to make you trip and fall. You just nee to stop and do your text. Those seconds are not worth the trouble. Even inside the house, the most common injuries at home take place while talking on the phone. These are injuries like muscle strains, tendons strains, and bone injuries

Carcinogenic?

Relations of cells to cancer has no evidence and it is considered safe. But scientists are still looking into it. Anyhow, if you have concerns or worries on that use the speaker or the headpiece

Condition of Trigger Thumb

Trigger thumb is condition resulting from stiffness of the thumb due to prolonged use of cellphone. The thumb gets stuck in a bent position. Sometimes when one tries to straighten it it hurts. This happens because the tendon sheath gets thick and it impedes the free movement of the tendon as a result of too much texting and typing on a cellphone. To treat it you have to cut down on the use of the smartphone.

Arthritis

If you have a preexisting condition of arthritis involving your thumb or hand fingers , cellphone use can make it worse, In thumb arthritis you will have pain and tenderness at the base of your thumb at the joint with wrist. Cutting down on cellphone use will help.

Nerve Compression

people who lean their elbows to text or bend them in order to raise them to the level of the ear and hold there are prone to get the ulnar nerve at the elbow irritated. Pins and needles can be felt at the fingers. Pain at elbow or forearm can be felt too. You can avoid this by cushioning your elbow when on hard surfaces or avoiding bending them for long time. Take breaks and move your upper limbs in different directions.

Interfering

Mobile phone can interfere with medical devices like pacemakers or implanted defibrillators and cause them to dysfunction. If you have a medical device and you notice a problem when using your mobile then let your doctor know.

Your Eyes

Smart phones emitted light in the blue range. This is tiresome to the eye. The cornea could be damaged at extreme situations. It is always good to limit your time with blue-light digital devices specially if you noticed a problem with your vision. This includes laptops too. At least you can take more frequent breaks to give your eyes a chance to rest.