Too Much Texting Could Be Giving You Excess Wrinkles

It’s no news that we all spend tons of hours of every day on our mobiles. College students alone spend at least 10 hours per day on their devices. An upside to this constant communicating is obvious; who doesn’t like keeping in touch with their nearest and dearest? And on a less important level, how about the pretty phone accessories? (don’t judge, they make for excellent stocking fillers). Then naturally, there are the downsides to our near-obsessive smartphone addictions, otherwise known as Nomophobia.

Too much phone time has been linked to depression, increased anxiety, acne, and weight gain – the list is endless. And now for more depressing news: texting has been attributed to causing excess wrinkles. Yes, this is as well as the usual wrinkle-causing suspects: sun exposure, sugar-laden diets, and stress. Now we have technology to thank for this added affliction.

Health and wellness website, Charlotte’s Book said that your crows feet are now being made worse by squinting at your phone screen for hours (this is an obvious side effect), however, there are things you can do to help the cause.

?Squinting to read texts and emails can cause wrinkles to form around your eyes,? said dermatologist Dr. Frank on the website. ?To help the situation, increase the font and the brightness on your phone. If you do several hours of work from your hand-held device, imagine the lines you can avoid just by upping your font size!?

There is also what is known as ?Tech Neck.? Tech neck results from constantly holding your device low and down. ?This can cause the collagen in your neck to break down and create an undesirable turkey-looking neck. On average, people stare at their phones for almost three hours a day. It adds stress to the muscles and nerves, which can do damage over time.?

Fellow researchers suggest holding your device slightly higher than normal to improve your posture. ?The head normally weighs about 10 pounds when the spine is straight,? Dr. Joel Schlessinger explained.

?However, when you’re holding your head at a 45-degree angle to look down at your phone, the head weighs about 49 pounds.? Just a slight change in elevation can make all the difference.

Dr. Frank echoes these sentiments and recommends we hold the phone at eye level, adding a warning about neck exercising. Though tempting, exercising your neck can run the risk of creating more wrinkles, so take caution to make sure you’re not overly straining your neck during your workout.

Though this isn’t the most positive news, taking the precautions above (along with your favourite night?cream) should help the situation (everything in moderation springs to mind here), and encourage you to take a break from your mobile and enjoy real life without a small screen in front of you.

Via Charlotte’s Book and Realself