Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




TECH SPACE
Smartphone addicts starting to feel the pain
by Staff Writers
London (AFP) Dec 2, 2011


Users of smartphones and tablet computers are starting to get high-tech blues, as increasing numbers of the tech savvy are coming down with ailments from "text neck" to "text thumb injury".

Health experts in Britain have warned that the strain injuries stemming from long periods spent staring at small screens and tapping at tiny keys can be debilitating. And the injuries are becoming more common as high-tech gadgets grow ever more popular.

More and more Britons use their smartphones -- in effect tiny PCs that fit in a jacket pocket -- for accessing the Internet rather than making phone calls.

According to a recent YouGov poll, 44 percent of Britons use their mobile phone for activities other than making calls, for between 30 minutes and two hours a day. The pollster quizzed 2,034 adults over several days in September.

"I had a patient who developed inflamed tendons in her thumb from using her smartphone and was unable to use her hand for weeks due to pain," said Tim Hutchful from the British Chiropractic Association.

Sammy Margo of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy said that people's bodies are "not designed to be used like this".

"The phones are far too small, with keys that are too small," she said, noting that pain in the upper limbs forced one of her patients to stop texting and instead switch to voice recognition software.

As well as hand injuries, experts point to problems among smartphone and tablet users arising from hours spent leaning over tiny screens.

"The weight of an average human head is between 10 to 12 pounds (4.5 to 5.5 kilogrammes)," said Hutchful.

In an ideal posture, where a vertical line can be drawn from your ear through your shoulder, hip, knee and ankle, "the weight is carried efficiently", he noted..

But if the head is constantly held forward to squint at a screen, then the unusual posture makes the head feel up to four times heavier, increasing strain across the whole body, he explained.

"Text neck" is in effect the latest manifestation of "repetitive strain injury" (RSI), a condition which affects one worker in 50 in Britain.

RSI is the name given to a group of injuries affecting the muscles, tendons and nerves primarily of the neck and upper limbs. It is particularly prevalent among workers who spend long periods using computers and computer mouses.

It is a treatable condition, but experts warn it is essential not to ignore the early warning signs.

In France, RSI is the main cause of sick leave in the work place.

Emmanuelle Rivoal, a Paris-based physiotherapist and osteopath, is seeing an increasing number of patients who are paralysed by pain "because they spend more than five hours a day in front of a screen."

While stressing that he did not want to "demonise smartphones", Hutchful offered some pointers for gadget aficionados to avoid injury, such as keeping smartphone use at under 40 minutes.

"Keep use to a minimum, take regular breaks and look at different ways of interacting," such as voice recognition software for texting, he said.

Margo in Britain says the biggest at-risk group are children and teenagers, who are heavy users of the latest computers and phones.

"I know families where people communicate from one room to another via text messages," she said. "We have to put limits on this."

.


Related Links
Space Technology News - Applications and Research






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








TECH SPACE
UCLA researchers demonstrate fully printed carbon nanotube transistor circuits for displays
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 02, 2011
Since the invention of liquid crystal displays in the mid-1960s, display electronics have undergone rapid transformation. Recently developed organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have shown several advantages over LCDs, including their light weight, flexibility, wide viewing angles, improved brightness, high power efficiency and quick response. OLED-based displays are now used in cell phon ... read more


TECH SPACE
Schafer Corp Signs Licensing Agreement with MoonDust Technologies

Russia wants to focus on Moon if Mars mission fails

Flying over the three-dimensional Moon

LRO Camera Team Releases High Resolution Global Topographic Map of Moon

TECH SPACE
ESA gives up bids to contact stranded Russian space probe

Microscopic worms could hold the key to living life on Mars

Mars Science Laboratory Lifts Off Protected by Lockheed Martin-Built Aeroshell

Veteran Mars Researcher Says Curiosity Spacecraft Can Confirm Viking Detected Life

TECH SPACE
Ugandan works on space project from mother's backyard

Nanosail-D Sails Home

Dutch astronaut's cheesy request

Looking for a Space Job

TECH SPACE
China post office offers letters from space

15 patents granted for Chinese space docking technology

China plans major effort in pursuing manned space technology

Tiangong-1 orbiter enters long-term operation management

TECH SPACE
Growing Knowledge in Space

MDA to extend its services to support Canadarm2 and Dextre for ISS

FLEX-ible Insight Into Flame Behavior

Satellite junk no threat to space station crew

TECH SPACE
Europe's third ATV is loaded with cargo for its 2012 launch by Arianespace

Assembly milestone reached with Ariane 5 to launch next ATV

Russia launches Chinese satellite

AsiaSat 7 Spacecraft Separation Successfully Completed

TECH SPACE
Habitable Does not Mean 'Earth-Like'

Exo planet count tops 700

Giant planet ejected from the solar system

Three New Planets and a Mystery Object Discovered Outside Our Solar System

TECH SPACE
Northrop Grumman Awarded MASTER Ground Processing Contract

Samsung tablet ban extended in Australia

Smartphone addicts starting to feel the pain

ATK Awarded $20 Million UltraFlex Solar Array Contract from Orbital




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement