Excessive cell phone use can inflame ligaments, joints and muscles

A few years ago, my best friend texted me confessing that she was worried about this. Her hands and fingers ached throughout the day, and the pain worsened when she used her smartphone. Could our constant texting about motherhood and politics be to blame?

​There is still not much research on the possible effects of smartphone use on the body. “We don’t know much,” said Jessica B. Schwartz, a physical therapist in New York, USA, and a spokeswoman for the American Physical Therapy Association. But she and the doctors I spoke to said they are seeing more patients than ever before with joint and soft tissue pain and problems like tendinitis in the fingers, thumbs, wrists, elbows, neck, shoulders and upper back — and that cell phones probably play a role in this.

When we text friends or surf the internet on our phones, we often use our muscles and joints in ways that strain them, Schwartz said.

Looking down at the phone, like holding it with flexed wrists while scrolling or texting, requires our joints and muscles to do things they haven’t evolved for: staying in the same position for too long, holding too much weight. and make repeated movements of small amplitude.

These positions and movements can put “undue strain” on joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments, “which are just not used to being held in that position for so long,” said Dr. Renee Enriquez, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Over time, these actions can cause inflammation, leading to pain and other problems, she said.

Not all doctors are aware of these risks. When my friend saw her GP for pain in her hands, she had x-rays and blood tests. She was told that she did not have arthritis.

When asked if his smartphone could be causing the pain, the doctor said it was unlikely. So she saw another doctor, who ruled out carpal tunnel syndrome, and finally an orthopedist who specializes in hands, who laughed and said “no” when she asked again if her phone could be contributing to the pain.

However, Schwartz said my friend’s symptoms were consistent with tendinitis, inflammation of the thick cords called tendons that attach muscles to bones, or tenosynovitis, the inflammation of the sheath lining that surrounds tendons.

Studies have linked tenosynovitis of the thumb, called De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, to frequent smartphone use. Phone use can also make symptoms worse among people who already have arthritis. She told me that while so-called “smartphone pinky” isn’t a definite disease, using your little finger to support your phone’s weight can cause problems.

Signs of trouble ahead

In addition to pain that can result from inflammation in ligaments, joints, muscles, tendons and their sheaths, people can suffer acute injuries when using smartphones. Dr. Jennifer Moriatis Wolf, a hand orthopedic surgeon at the Medical University of Chicago, said she has seen patients who have sprained their thumbs from gripping phones too tightly.

Frequent phone use can also affect our nerves. When we hold the device in front of us with our elbows bent, we compress the ulnar nerve, which runs from the neck to the hands. This constriction can cause numbness and weakness in the little and ring fingers, Schwartz said.

More generally, when any muscle, tendon, or ligament becomes inflamed from cell phone use, they can swell, which compresses the nerves that run through them and causes pain or numbness, Enriquez said.

Cell phone use can also exacerbate preexisting nerve problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome, Wolf added. Then there’s the strain smartphones can put on our eyes and the disruption blue light can put on our sleep cycles.

“Text neck” is another term that has popped up. Consider what happens when you bend over to look at your phone: Compared to holding your head upright, this tilted position increases strength in your neck muscles and cervical spine by a factor of four or five, said Dr. Jason M.Cuéllar, a spinal orthopedist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and JFK North Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida.

That excess force, he said, can weaken spinal ligaments over time and cause pain. A 2017 study found a link between texting and constant pain in the neck, shoulders, and upper back, although other studies found no such connection.

The cervical spines of some young Cuéllar patients are also abnormally curved. This could also be related to frequent smartphone use, he said, and could increase the risk of back problems.

“We think this leads to accelerated disc degeneration,” he said, referring to the deterioration of spinal discs, the tiny shock absorbers that sit between the vertebrae and help us move comfortably. “We’re seeing more younger people, in their 20s or 30s, with cervical spine problems.”

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What should you do if your phone is causing you pain or if you’re worried it might happen?

While my friend’s doctors dismissed the idea that the phone had anything to do with her hand pain, she eventually got rid of the large smartphone and bought a smaller one to see if it would help. She also began using a “voice-to-text” option for writing, reducing strain on her fingers. Her pain quickly dissipated.

Schwartz agreed that opting for a smaller, lighter phone might be a good idea if you have small hands, and that the voice-to-text tool can ease pain by reducing finger strain. She and Enriquez also recommended phone holders, which can greatly alleviate the strain of holding the phone with your fingers. Cuéllar said it might be helpful to use a stand that holds your phone at eye level so you don’t strain your neck to see it.

If you’re experiencing a lot of pain, it’s good to see a physical therapist or a doctor like an orthopedist or physical medicine specialist, as they can recommend treatments and stretches, Schwartz said. “If you catch these things early, they don’t tend to become chronic,” she said.

But if something causes you pain, the simplest solution is to stop doing it often. In other words, Wolf said, “the best advice would be: turn off the phone.”

Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves