Head and neck injuries related to phone use are on the rise. Since the first iPhone was released, according to a study in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.
Doctors are warning cell phone users to be especially careful when:
- Walking around and texting
2,501 reported cases of phone-related head and neck injuries that lead to emergency room visits between January 1998 and December 2017 found in a nationwide database. Injuries in teens and young adults aged 13 to 29 years old were about 40%, in women (55%) and men (45%).
Common Phone Injuries
Common injuries include:- Cuts
- Bruises
- Abrasions
- Internal injuries usually happen around the eyes and nose
- Possible trauma to the brain
Any type of phone distraction in and out of the home puts you and others at risk for:
- Falls
- Slips
- Trips
More individuals are getting injured because of phone use while moving around and not paying attention to what's around them.
Children
Children under the age of 13 were at higher risk to suffer a mechanical injury like parents accidentally dropping the phone on their child or children hitting themselves in the face. For example, ninety cases of injuries occurred while playing Pokemon Go.
Spending as little as two to four hours a day hunched over a smartphone is enough to make a serious impact on the body over time. And though two to four hours may not seem like a long time, it isn’t hard to arrive at two hours by adding several 15-minute or half-hour segments together.
For teenagers, specifically, two to four hours on a smartphone has changed as of now teenagers spend around seven to eight hours on their phones. Spending twice as much time on afternoons or the space between classes or lunch. Think about the impact of 1500 plus hours of bad posture throughout the year. There is no surprise that teenagers are at risk.
The lasting impact of text neck and distracted phone use on today’s young people will be costly. Therefore, the public needs to be educated about the risks of distracted phone use and reducing this distracted behavior.