We all know about the perils of repetitive motion and the injuries that have become so prevalent since we started spending so much of our lives at computers (carpal tunnel syndrome springs to mind).  Constant use of a mouse or trackball, a poorly placed keyboard, a non-ergonomic workstation – all have helped fill the reception areas of orthopedic surgeons’ offices nationwide!  In the last ten years, another culprit has entered the fray and further threatens our physical well-being:

The smartphone.

When we finally take a break from our workstations, laptops and desks, we whip out our smartphones and laser in on them.  We hold them between our chin and shoulder, we text madly using our hands and wrists, we bend our heads over their small screens to check the seemingly constant flow of texts and emails that appear on them.

What’s the result?  A strained neck, sore wrists and cramping fingers (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?).

What’s the cure?  For one, better phone posture.  Raise you phone to eye level instead of constantly looking down at it.  If you’re at the office or at home near a real keyboard, use that to type anything longer than a short note.  Hopefully this will ease your aches and pains, and give you more time to spend having fun, rather than reading an outdated magazine at a doctor’s office.  Put down that phone for a minute.  There’s a world with less pain out there!