Your smartphone could be hurting you, say Winnipeg doctors

Checking every “like” and comment means we’re bent over our phones a lot, and it turns out that can literally be a pain in the neck, and then some.

Winnipeg chiropractor Dr. Gordon Partridge says hanging your head while looking at your device won’t just create pressure on your neck, it could have more far-reaching effects.

” If you think about posture — being hunched over — the tension that builds up, the lack of mobility … people will relate things like digestion issues and breathing issues pain down their arm numbness tingly fingers headaches,” Partridge said.

Several students at the University of Winnipeg said they are all-too familiar with the pain.

“I have really bad shoulders, so a lot of the time I’ve been told that just makes it worse because I’m like hunched over my phone a lot and I get the same thing even just studying or using my phone for studying,” said one student.

0:25 University of Winnipeg students concerned about ill-effects of cell phones

“My eyes were really bother me,  like I was blinking constantly and I was having neck pain,” said another.

And it’s not just your neck you need to be concerned with. Optometrists say blue light could effect your eye sight.

“Blue light isn’t a bad thing, during the day we actually want blue light to keep us alert and awake, but it does become an issue later in the evening when we’re trying to wind down,” optometrist Dr. Cody van Dijk said.

“The blue light from our devices is actually telling our brain to stay awake.”

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Optometrists also say holding a device too close to your eyes could cause your eyesight to worsen. They suggest putting the phone away at least an hour before you go to bed.