Smart phones got their name for good reason. With advanced capabilities like providing access to e-mail, the Internet and even e-books, these cutting-edge mobile devices are phones and computers rolled into one. To most consumers, even a plain-vanilla cell phone is irresistible.

Unfortunately, many people who own and prize these personal-communication devices are not as smart as the technology itself. Overuse can have serious repercussions on health and well-being. You may not realize the impact until it’s too late.

Here’s a smart phone and cell phone syndrome checklist.

Trigger thumb

It’s no surprise that hammering on your smart phone’s keypad can do a number on your fingers. But you may not realize how much damage you’re inflicting. It’s your tendons—fibrous tissues that connect muscles to bone—that in this situation control finger movement, says Dr. Daniel Polatsch, an orthopedic surgeon in New York City who specializes in treating hand, wrist and elbow disorders.

In a perfect world, Polatsch says, these tendons glide with little friction through a tunnel. They’re kept in place by a series of “pulleys” that help move your fingers into a position to type. However, when you use your fingers for long periods of time—as you would when you text nonstop—you may inflame your tendons. The result? The tendons can no longer glide through their tunnels smoothly and get temporarily stuck. This, in turn, causes the finger to lock or catch before it has a chance to open—a phenomenon known as “trigger finger”—which is medically a form of tendinitis. 

The trigger fingers most typically affected by excess texting are the thumbs, which need to be bent for long periods of time, Polatsch says. Sometimes, he says, a finger, after it locks, stays bent and needs to be forcibly extended by the other hand. Initial medical treatment is often selective steroid injections to help decrease tendon inflammation, but if symptoms persist, a small surgical procedure may be required to release the pulley causing the problem.

Addictive behavior

Addictions that stem from people wanting to be “constantly connected” has increased dramatically, says Shari Corbitt, Psy.D., a psychologist specializing in addiction behavior and the senior executive director of Promises Treatment Centers, in West Los Angeles and Malibu, Calif.

When people who display addictive tendencies toward smart phones and cell phones are cut off from access to this technology, these individuals may experience severe anxiety and hypervigilance over that next e-mail, Corbitt says.

Unlike the battle against alcohol or drug addiction—which requires you to stop ingesting those substances—managing an addiction to technology that you need to use every day is challenging. “People get a lot of praise from their bosses for being connected, and very few people are congratulated for being disconnected,” Corbitt says. She notes it’s not unheard of for people who can’t sleep through the night figuring they may as well check their e-mails because they’re awake.

Because keeping on top of this type of dependency is a control issue, Corbitt suggests that people take intermittent breaks. “Limiting access to certain specified times during the day helps develop greater self-control around being on a schedule,” she says.

Cell-phone elbow

Elbow action plays a big role when you talk on your cell phone. Your elbow is both slightly elevated and typically flexed more than 90 degrees, says Dr. Peter J. Evans, an orthopedic surgeon and director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Center at Cleveland Clinic. These positions put stress on the ulnar nerve, which travels around the inner part and the back of the elbow, by stretching and compressing it.

The outcome of what Evans calls cell-phone elbow—otherwise known as cubital tunnel syndrome—is that the ulnar nerve gets less blood, which, in turn, causes that nerve to short-circuit and malfunction. Common symptoms are a cold feeling and a pins-and-needles sensation, often in the ring and pinkie fingers.

Some people exhibit a fair amount of resilience to this malady and don’t need to switch hands frequently. Other individuals who seek medical care for their pain are often given elbow splints to keep that body part straight, Evans says. He cautions that cumulative trauma can lead to nerve damage, which requires surgery to decompress the ulnar nerve. Often, when performing this type of operation, the surgeon will reposition the nerve to the front part of the elbow, which is a spot less prone to tension.

Curbing your habit is better than having surgery, Evans says. The distance between the injury site (elbow) and the hand (where the symptoms show up) is about 18 inches. Full recovery can take as long as two years, the amount of time required for the nerve fibers to regrow between those two points.

Increased risk of accidents while driving

No matter how many advisories go out on not driving while using hand-held technology, this type of accident continues unabated. David Groves, a registered nurse and trauma outreach coordinator at Cooper University Hospital, in Camden, N.J., says that people driving with only one hand on the wheel, as they clutch their cell phone in the other, is commonplace. Similarly, drivers who text rest their hands on the top of the steering wheel, as they prop their devices in slightly cupped hands.

“Their eyes aren’t on the road, but on what they’re texting,” Groves says. This distraction may be directly related to missing stop signs, crashes and just about any accident caused by not paying attention. Getting a headset may seem like a valid solution, but often it’s not. “Even though both hands are free when you use a headset, people gesture a lot when they speak, which means their hands are still off the wheel,” he says.

Wrist pain

It’s not just your fingers that take a beating when you use mobile phones excessively. Some tendons in the wrist are vulnerable to inflammation too, Polatsch says. Medically known as De Quervain’s tendinitis, this condition is often seen in parents of newborns who cradle their babies in the crook of one arm with the wrist bent and turned inward. That wrist position is similar to the way people cup their smart phones, he says, and it puts pressure on certain tendons that can become inflamed.

The result—pain and tenderness at the wrist—can be addressed by using splints, having physicians administer steroid injections and, less frequently, surgery.

Walking-and-talking accidents

Walking into a telephone pole or taking a misstep off the curb and falling into the street may seem like comic relief, but it’s an increasingly common occurrence as more people walk, talk and text. When people are focused on their cell phones or smart phones and don’t pay attention to what’s directly ahead of them, something happens in the body.

Proprioception is unconscious awareness of the position and location of your body parts, says Benjamin Gelfand, a physical therapist who owns Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation in New York City. This awareness allows you to keep your balance and even catch yourself if you’re on the verge of falling. However, he says, if you’re distracted by your smart phone and not looking straight ahead when you walk, you miss the clues and warning signs that the outside world provides to help you proceed. As a result, proprioception messages don’t get processed. “Loss of proprioception increases your risk of falling or experiencing other mishaps,” he says.

Unlike a home environment that’s controlled and known to us, the street is filled with unpredictable elements, the most variable of which is other people, Gelfand says. Those people are also walking, driving cars and riding bicycles. If you’re involved with your personal technology, you won’t see them coming, he says.

Worsening of carpal tunnel syndrome

One of many problems that can affect the wrist is carpal tunnel syndrome, where the median nerve at the wrist is compressed. Although cell phone use doesn’t cause this problem, extensive use of this technology can certainly aggravate the condition, Evans says. When you hold your mobile phone to your ear, your hand is elevated above your heart, which diminishes the blood flow toward the hand.

Evans advises people to protect the median nerve by limiting cell phone use, switching hands when necessary and wearing a wrist splint. If symptoms persist, surgery may be required, he says.

Increased risk of nonsocial behavior

People overly involved with their smart phones and cell phones often don’t understand why their addictive tendencies can be described as nonsocial behavior. They’ll tell you they’re interacting with people, which, to them, means they’re being socially active, says Shari Corbitt, Psy.D. Similarly, she says, these people will think nothing of interrupting family meals or social time to take a call or to text.

The reality is that connecting with people virtually is not the same thing as live, one-on-one meetings or conversations, she says. It’s the family relationship—meal times and family events—that suffers the most, with children being the most vulnerable. Youngsters may find themselves in the presence of parents or siblings who claim they’re very busy and use the technology to distance themselves from intimacy. “These individuals have problems being in the present moment,” she says, adding that they are often shocked when they hear the incendiary or emotional reactions of their family members to the behavior.

Corbitt suggests that family members set aside time where technology is nowhere to be found, and that they make written commitments toward more active engagement with the people in their circle. Thoughtful counseling—often in a formal rehabilitative setting—creates an environment where the person may be more receptive to hearing the truth, she says.

Exposure to germs

Eighty percent of all infectious diseases are spread by direct and indirect contact with germs, says Dr. Philip M. Tierno Jr., director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. If you use a smart phone or cell phone covered with your own germs, there’s generally no harm done, he says. But if you’re sharing phones, you may be vulnerable.

Some company employees who perform shift work use the same cell phone, notes Tierno, author of The Secret Life of Germs. Germs from the previous user may wind up on the mouthpiece or the key pad. If these microbes find their way into your mouth, nose and eyes—the conduits that germs use to enter the body—you might become a host yourself, he says.

Although Tierno underscores that only between 1 percent and 2 percent of all germs are pathogens—meaning they’ll cause disease no matter how healthy you are—he advises that people use disinfectant wipes when using a smart phone or cell phone that anyone else has touched or used.

Worsening of arthritis symptoms

Cartilage allows bones to move against each other smoothly. With age, and wear and tear on the joints, the cartilage that covers the bone at the joint wears away, which leads to osteoarthritis and pain in the affected areas. “If you have osteoarthritis at the base of your thumbs, texting a lot can exacerbate your symptoms,” Polatsch says.

The reason for the aggravation is the increased force across the thumb joint coupled with excessive repetition, he says. Unlike their use of full-size keyboards that allow every digit to share the work, texters predominantly use only their thumbs. “These repeated strikes are going through only one or two fingers,” he says. He advises people with symptoms of osteoarthritis to text in moderation, take frequent breaks, type very short responses when possible, and switch to using other fingers if their thumbs start to hurt.

-  http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100252908

-  http://www.promises.com/