Huffington Magazine Issue 78 | Page 63

Exit How Your Smartphone Is Harming Your Health ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARTIN GEE BY CAROLYN GREGOIRE Are you and your smartphone inseparable? If so, you’re not alone — plenty of research illustrates how increasingly addicted we’re becoming to our mobile devices, including one survey showing that 66 percent of people are actually afraid to lose or be separated from their cell phones. And if rising rates of sleep texting aren’t enough to signal our addiction to our cell phones, we don’t know what is. To the right, find out how excessive smartphone use could be messing with your physical and mental well-being. THE THIRD METRIC TEXT CLAW HUFFINGTON 12.08.13 Do you find yourself with soreness or cramping in your wrist and fingers? It could be a nonmedical term called “text claw.” Repetitive fine motor activity — including that from texting, playing too much Candy Crush, etc. — can exacerbate conditions like tendinitis, and can cause wrist and forearm pain.