Smartphones to blame for sudden backaches

By Mark Mutahi

Are you a digital content junkie whose mobile phone rivals the Library of Congress as a repository of audio, video and all manner of digital content? And have you been experiencing back pains lately?  The answer lies not in a sedentary lifestyle, wearing high heels, sleeping on an old worn out mattress, or witchcraft as the causes of your back pains. It is your mobile phone!

And no, it is not because a certain SMS in your smartphone caused you to be suspected of infidelity and thus had to spend the night on the couch, resulting in neck and back pains. It is the digital weight you are carrying around that is straining your spine.

A study conducted by the Institute of Modern Distractions shows that the more songs, pictures, videos, games that one possesses in their phone, the heavier the gadget gets and consequently the more back pains one is likely to experience.

Strain

This is, especially so when one carries the phone in either one hand, one pocket or in a handbag hanging from one shoulder resulting in uneven weight distribution on the body.

This uneven weight distribution causes muscle strain on one side at the expense of the other, thus leading to the discomfort in the lower back. Already evidence of uneven weight distribution on the body is everywhere. This can be seen from people walking with a slant reminiscent of the ‘academic angle’ associated with the bookworms of a bygone era gone.

“It seems that finally the gigabytes of content we have been accumulating over the years has caught up with us and we are now paying for it,” an orthopaedic surgeon observed, noting that since the advent of smartphones, the number of patients coming to him with back problems has increased significantly.

Anguish

Jasper Wenza, a frequent sufferer of back problems gave thumbs up to the findings, saying he had already put them to test. He revealed that when he learnt what was causing him pain and anguish, he immediately deleted all the songs, videos, pictures and games in his smartphone and as sure as day follows night, the problem went away.

“Now I make sure the only digital content that my phone has are phone numbers … and even those I have to keep to a bare minimum,” Wenza added.

That the digital content in smartphones makes them heavier has had interesting implications. One of them includes good news for those who are frustrated by their fruitless attempts at reducing weight. In fact, the reason the pointer on the weighing scale keeps going further to the right, every time they step on it is because they have been weighing themselves with the smartphone in their pockets.

Fortunately, the researchers at the Institute of Modern Distractions did not just point out a problem but also offered a solution that should interest sufferers:

“There are several ways to ensure even weight distribution when it comes to digital weight,” the lead researcher was quoted as saying. “One of which is to buy two phones and ensure they occupy opposite sides of the body, so that the digital weight on one side balances out with the other.”