For many of us, mobile devices are an inescapable part of daily life. But for all the convenience they bring, we have to remember that there is such thing as too much of a good thing. The spread of smartphones and other mobile devices has brought with it a slew of ailments caused by overuse.
You may have heard of – or even currently suffer from – “text claw,” which is the pain you get in your wrists and hands from constant use. In addition to this and other increasing ailments is what is being called “smartphone pinky“, which is classified as pain and even temporary deformity of the pinky finger from, you guessed it, excessive smartphone use. If you’re reading this on your phone now, you may want to adjust the way you’re holding your mobile device.
Recently, Japanese cell phone provider NTT Docomo released an alert on their public Twitter account, reminding users of the side-effects of over-doing it with the mobile devices, and urging them take frequent breaks and switch up the way they hold onto their precious lifelines. They also provided photos of what can happen if you depend too much on your little finger to support the weight of your phone – something many of us unconsciously do to get a better grip on our sleek, easily dropped, devices.
Not only can holding your phone in this fashion cause pain from the strain of holding up that weight, it can also result in an indentation between the first and second joints of your little finger, AKA smartphone pinky.
▼ Sure, you’ll win at technology, but it’ll come at a cost…
Smartphone neck, caused by spending so much time looking down at our mobile devices each day, is indeed a real thing, but smartphone pinky? Is there a chance that the tweeted image could have received a little bit of touching via Photoshop, or perhaps just shows a smartphone user whose finger was unusually shaped to begin with? Either way, while we understand how hard it can be to pry your eyes from all the fascinating things on your screen, we would also like to urge you, dear readers, to give your eyes, neck, and even pinkies an occasional break from the connected world. Except for RocketNews24 posts of course. If anything, reading all of our stuff will make you less likely to develop any of the above ailments.*
References: NariNari, Medical Daily
Featured image: FreeDigitalPhotos (adamr)
*May or may not be a total lie.