How excessive mobile phone usage is affecting our bodies

For Filipinos, this reliance is even more pronounced. Citing DataReportal’s Digital 2024: Global Overview Report, Electronics Hub reveals the Philippines ranks as the third most phone-addicted country globally, with Filipinos spending an astonishing 31.45% of their day on their devices.

But how exactly does this affect us? Are our smartphones truly the silent culprits behind the health issues so often attributed to their use? GMA News Online sought the help of several health professionals to find out.

The Burden of Poor Posture

The phrase “text neck” might sound like a joke, but it’s a very real condition. Also known as smartphone slump, text neck occurs when “the cervical spine assumes a bent or flexed position for prolonged periods,” explained Dr. Hubert Philippe Co, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Health Hub Pro Clinic Banawe QC, Inc.  

The repetitive strain of maintaining a forward head posture while looking down at mobile screens leads to soreness, stiffness, or pain in the head, neck, and back area.

“Prolonged forward head positioning can lead to over-contraction and tightness of some muscles in the neck and chest and weakness of other muscles. This muscle imbalance will lead to overuse of certain muscles, which will eventually lead to increased tension and fatigue of these muscles, leading to pain,” Dr Hubert explained.

Beyond pain, these imbalances can also trigger headaches, dizziness, and other symptoms, which can make everyday movements and activities more difficult. 

Aside from muscles, it can also affect other structures, like joints and ligaments. “It can also lead to mechanical and structural imbalances in the spine, disc, and nerves, triggering pain generators in the neck,” he added.

A Frontiers study that looked at the burden of neck pain across the globe found the Philippines has the highest global rates of neck pain, with 1 in 19 Filipinos experiencing neck pain in 2019.

Dr. Hubert suggests combating text neck by improving how we use our phones. Resting your elbows and forearms on a table or pillow and avoiding phone use while lying face down can make a difference. He also recommends being mindful of your posture—tucking your chin and retracting your shoulders can help you maintain better alignment and prevent text neck.

Screen Time and Strained Eyes

The body part that interacts the most with our mobile screens is our eyes, so it’s no surprise they bear the brunt of the strain, leading to a host of symptoms, like dry eyes, blurred vision, and headaches.

Using a video display terminal—think computer monitors, tablets, or phones—means staring at a flickering light. This places extra strain on the eye muscles compared to reading print, making it more tiring,” explained Dr. Joanna Ver, an ophthalmologist practicing at Manila Doctors Hospital and Galileo Surgicenter.

Dr. Joanna explained digital eyestrain results from a combination of focusing on close-up objects for extended periods, compounded by the strain of light-producing displays and the reduced blinking that occurs when concentrating on a screen.

"When we focus on screens, we often forget to blink, which is essential for keeping our eyes moist and lubricated. Blinking spreads the tear film across the eyes, and less blinking leads to dryness as tears evaporate. Using an electric fan or air conditioning can worsen dryness, causing symptoms like tearing or a feeling of something in your eyes," Dr. Joanna added.

“It will strain your eyes, maybe temporarily blur them because of the fatigue and the dryness, she explained. Having uncorrected or undercorrected vision problems makes the discomfort worse. 

However, Dr. Joanna said there’s no adequate evidence of it being the direct cause of poor vision or other conditions affecting the eye. 

Dr Joanna recommends doing the 20-20-20 rule to help reduce digital eyestrain. This involves looking at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds after 20 minutes of screen time. Doing so allows your eye muscles to relax after prolonged screen time. 

She also reminds people to blink more often, make sure there’s adequate ambient light, reduce screen brightness, and increase font size.

Screentime May Cause Headaches and Dizziness

Excessive scrolling can cause cybersickness, where conflicting signals between the eyes and inner ear lead to nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and headaches. This condition happens when screen movement doesn’t align with the body’s sense of motion, mimicking motion sickness. 

The parallax effect, often used in websites and social media, worsens this by keeping the background still while text or elements move horizontally, heightening sensory conflict and intensifying cybersickness symptoms.

The Toll on Our Hands

Like our eyes, we use our hands to interact with our phones.

Repetitive motions such as typing, scrolling, gripping, and swiping—actions commonly performed during smartphone use—place significant strain on specific structures in the hand and wrist.

"Over time, these repetitive movements can lead to injuries collectively referred to as ‘cumulative trauma disorders (CTD)’ because they all stem from repetitive movements," explained Marcy, an occupational therapist at a large government hospital.

Here are common CTDs caused by excessive mobile phone use:

• Texting Thumb. A study found a clear link between the number of hours spent using smartphones daily and the prevalence of De Quervains’ tenosynovitis (DQT) symptoms. 

DQT or “texting thumb” is caused by the repetitive actions involved in using mobile phones, especially one-handed use, that cause awkward wrist positions and irritate the tendons at the base of the thumb.

Over time, this can lead to tendon swelling or thickening. DQT affects both the thumb and wrist, as the tendons pass through a narrow tunnel in the wrist, causing pain, swelling, and difficulty with movements like pinching or gripping.

• Smartphone pinky. Another habit—using your pinky finger to prop up your phone—can cause strain. While studies show that the changes in the appearance of the pinky are just temporary and don’t alter the bones or joints in the pinky, smartphone pinky may still cause pain or numbness.
• Trigger Finger. Does your finger snap or lock in place? You might have a trigger finger. This condition happens when inflammation narrows the protective covering around the tendons, causing them to catch or lock when bent.

Repetitive hand movements often cause a trigger finger. The inflammation can thicken the tendons or create small bumps, making it harder for them to move smoothly. Symptoms include stiffness, a popping feeling, and, in severe cases, difficulty straightening or bending the finger.

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Using your phone for four hours or more also increases your risk of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).  A 2022 Turkish study found that your risk of CTS increases by 1.292 times for every additional hour of daily smartphone use.

CTS occurs when the median nerve, which provides sensation and movement to the hand, becomes compressed as it passes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist. This compression often results from repetitive wrist motions and bad posture while using devices. 

Symptoms of CTS include tingling, numbness, and weakness in the hand, making it difficult to perform precise tasks like typing or grasping small objects. 

You can check for CTS with a simple test: Place your palms together as if praying, with your wrists fully extended. If this reproduces symptoms such as tingling or numbness, you may have CTS.

What to Do With Them

If you have any of these, a doctor may refer you to an occupational therapist like Marcy. “As allied health practitioners, we take a conservative approach,” she explained.

OTs analyze how you perform tasks, recommend adjustments to tools or workspaces—such as desk height, ergonomic keyboards, or improved grips—and guide you on pacing activities, incorporating rest, and doing exercises to manage and reduce pain.

“Most patients only seek help when they are already in extreme pain or when it starts affecting their ability to perform daily tasks,” Marcy explained.

Marcy explained that rest is primarily for prevention. Exercise may help if done correctly. However, in severe cases, where pain persists even with the slightest movements, steroid injections or, in some cases, surgery may be recommended. 

“Surgery must always be the last resort as it would require longer periods of wound healing and may limit certain movements during the healing process,” explained Marcy.

Losing Precious Sleep

Do you find yourself glued to your phone in the wee hours of the night, struggling to put it down? Many people share this habit, but it could do more harm than you think.

When it gets dark, the body secretes a hormone called melatonin, which promotes sleep. As soon as sunlight reaches our eyes, the retina signals an organ in the brain to stop melatonin production, signaling our body to wake up from sleep.

The blue light emitted by the sun is also emitted by phone screens, making nighttime phone use akin to staying outdoors under bright daylight, preventing the body from winding down.  

Exposure to blue light reduces melatonin production, delaying sleep onset. This results in people staying alert and cognitively active, reducing sleep quality and shorter sleep duration. 

Unfortunately, melatonin suppression not only causes sleep disturbances but has also been linked to increased risks of cancer and metabolic disorders, including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

Mobile phones make life so much easier, but they can also take a toll on our health. By being more mindful of how much time we spend on them, making small changes to our habits, and improving our posture, we can avoid these issues and feel better overall.

— LA, GMA Integrated News