10 SMARTPHONE INJURIES THAT CAN EASILY BE AVOIDED

10 smartphone injuries that can easily be avoided
By Sarah Jacobsson Purewal, Greenbot, 4 March 2016.

Now that technology is an integral part of our lives, it only makes sense that tech-related injuries are on the rise. You can take precautions to avoid eye strain and carpal tunnel, but some injuries may be inevitable (no matter how ergonomic your keyboard is).

But there’s a big difference between a data entry specialist getting carpal tunnel and you getting a repetitive strain injury in your thumb because you were playing too much Candy Crush. Here are 10 smartphone injuries that are completely our fault.

1. Phone meets face

You’re not the only person who’s gotten a black eye because you dropped your phone on your face while texting in bed. According to a study commissioned by the UK-based National Accident Helpline, a whopping 60 percent of 16-24 year olds are in the same boat.

2. Distracted walking

Walking is, apparently, really hard. So hard, in fact, that human beings cannot walk and perform other mentally-challenging tasks, such as texting, simultaneously. According to the this report from the Governors Highway Safety Association, pedestrian fatalities are on the rise because we are just that terrible at walking.

3. Tech neck

As you get older, your body starts to hurt. You might have back pain, knee pain, or even neck pain - regular wear and tear can’t be avoided. But by “older,” we’re talking 55, not 25. If you’re a millennial with neck pain, it’s probably because you spend too much time hunched over your phone on the toilet.

4. Phone madness

Technology makes people insane. Saving money on technology makes people even more insane. In 2013, at least 20 people were injured when a frenzied South Korean mob tried to grab vouchers for a free LG phone.

5. Repetitive strain injuries

Think you can’t get carpal tunnel from your phone? Think again. Repetitive strain injuries don’t just affect your wrists. Check out this case study of a 29-year-old who ruptured a tendon from playing too much Candy Crush.

6. Selfie deaths

People are not the only victims of stupid selfie stunts. Innocent animals, such as this baby dolphin that has almost certainly never owned a smartphone, are also at risk. Repeat after me: SELFIES KILL.

7. Selfie stick deaths

Selfies alone are killing people, so what could possibly go wrong if we introduce a four-foot-long metal rod into the picture? Nothing, right? Selfie sticks are also pretty dangerous. In 2015, a person was struck by lightning and killed while holding a selfie stick (the stick attracted the lightning, naturally), while another person ended up crashing his car because he was trying to get the perfect selfie (on a stick). Selfie sticks are even a danger to international landmarks: Two American tourists were arrested in 2015 for carving their initials into the Colosseum with a selfie stick.

8. Tripping over a charging cable

We’re so dependent on smartphones that we can’t go anywhere without our trusty charging cable. But charging cables are dangerous, especially when they’re attached to a US$650/emotionally priceless object. How many times have you tripped over your phone cable and taken the fall because you’d rather hurt yourself than your phone?

9. Glass is actually kind of sharp

We’ve all suffered from a broken phone screen, but some of us have really suffered. Let’s just say that the glass on smartphones is still glass, which means it’s pretty darn sharp when it’s broken. Would you swipe your finger across a broken window? I don’t think so.

10. Smartphone stress

Smartphones are convenient. Too convenient. Thanks to ‘smartphone stress,’ we’re sicker than ever, because we can’t disconnect from stressful things like work email and Facebook notifications, and therefore never really have time to recover.

Top image credit: Azlan DuPree/Flickr, CC BY 2.0.

[Source: Greenbot. Edited. Top image added.]