DR. LISA GOODMAN, DC, CCSP, CACCP, CF-L1

The last time I was at the airport, on the train to the terminal I looked up and nearly every person was on their cell phone. The only people who weren’t were wrangling children. Truly. Every other person was staring at their screen. You have probably heard that this can lead to ‘text neck’ and that it is ‘bad for your eyes’ to stare at a screen all day. But smartphone use is also leading to major pain in our arms, hands, necks and backs.

I’ll tell you all about these conditions, but first an admission. Not only am I a doctor of chiropractic who specializes in posture and muscle and joint health, but I use my cell phone constantly. I use my phone for shooting content and posting social media updates, emails, and communicating with my family and staff. I also get sucked into infinite scrolling Instagram, X, and my favorite news apps. I tell you this so that you take my advice to heart. I don’t know when phones use will decline, but until it does, you can take important steps to reduce the strain on your physical health.

How phone use damages your body

Arm and hand pain: Phones are very cool, and with all of this tech and size, comes weight. They are heavy! Holding your phone in the palm of your hand places major strain on the muscles and joints of your arm. A number of painful conditions have been linked to increased phone usage such as lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow, now also being called “iPhone elbow”), thumb strains, carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis. In other words, pain in your hand, thumb, elbow and even your shoulder might be linked to long hours of holding your arm at a 90 degree angle, palm facing up, scrolling and tapping.

Neck pain and headaches: Do a little exercise with me. Grab your phone and open it to your favorite app. Now freeze. Take inventory of your body posture. Is your head bent forward to look down at your phone? Or is your head facing straight ahead with your phone up at your eye level? Most people I observe (and I observe a lot of people!) lower their heads to look at their phone (which is being held generally by bending the elbow at a 90 degree angle). This leads to terrible neck pain, headaches and even upper back pain. And to make matters worse, if this is a constant habit for you, your neck is slowly remodeling into a new shape. Our necks are meant to curve up and back, and our phones are creating necks that curve down and forward. Over time this will lead to chronic pain and inability to completely straighten.

Use your phone less frequently

• Use your phone in 5-10 minute increments a few times per day rather than constantly.

• Notifications – I recently read that turning notifications off can make us check our phones more often to ‘see if someone responded, texted or liked a post’. So identify whether you will use your phone less with notifications turned on or turned off.

• Plug your phone in across the room or in another room at night. This way you are not scrolling before bed or when you wake up in the morning.

• Leave your phone tucked away the whole time you are out to eat or hanging out with friends.

Change your phone posture

• Rather than bringing your face to your phone, try bringing your phone up to your face so you are looking ahead rather than down.

• Never hold your phone if you are using it to watch a video, movie or show. Prop your phone on a table using an extended pop socket or other holder.

• Switch up which hand holds your phone.

• Scroll, swipe and tap with alternating fingers or thumbs.

• Support your arm whenever possible on a table, couch arm, or even your own knee when sitting when using your phone.

How do I treat the damage I’ve already done?

At home:

• Ice! You can help control the inflammation with ice

• Wrist roller – mini foam rollers are helpful

• Stretching: Stretch your arm out in front of you, pull fingers towards yourself. Turn wrist down, pull your fingers down and towards yourself.

  At your Sport’s Chiro’s office (that’s us!):

• Chiropractic adjustment of joints of the wrist, elbow and shoulder decreases compression and improves mobility resulting is less pain and better function.

• Using manual therapy like the Graston Technique can help break up scar tissue, reducing pain and improving the health of the wrist and forearm.

• Kinesiology tape like RockTape can decrease inflammation and provide support during activity, sports and work.

• Deep tissue massage therapy helps mobilize inflammation and retrain supportive muscles, also decreasing pain.

Pain created by smartphone use accumulates and becomes worse the more we use our phones. The best solution is to use your phone less. And as a bonus…your mental health, sleep and social relationships may also improve! I no longer reach for my phone every time I am in the back of an Uber in a new city, I sit back, focus on some relaxing breathing and take in my surroundings. Most of the time whatever is on your phone can wait until you are in a controlled environment, where your phone is propped on an eye level surface and you can spend 10 minutes catching up.