Ah, the advantages of smartphones: Insomnia, saggy jaw, weak eyesight

More than a third of us own a smartphone and, on average, will look at it a barely believable 150 times a day. But have you ever considered what this is doing to your health? Here, we reveal how our favourite gadget can damage our bodies.
If your eyes feel sore after staring at your phone, you won’t be surprised to learn that focusing on a small object for a long time can cause dry eyes, which can lead to inflammation and infection. Even more worryingly, phones could be affecting children’s eyesight in the long-term. Mr Allon Barsam, a consultant opthalmic surgeon at Luton & Dunstable University Hospital, says it is possible that youngsters who stare at screens all day could be near-sighted as they grow up.
There’s also research to suggest that using smartphones could leave us needing glasses sooner.
‘Presbyopia, or the inability to focus on close objects, usually develops in your mid-to-late-40s, which is why everyone after a certain age needs reading glasses,’ says Mr Barsam. ‘People only notice this when they can’t read a newspaper, but we tend to hold phones far closer to our eyes than papers — around 10in away as opposed to 16in — so it’s becoming a problem sooner.’
While smartphones aren’t necessarily damaging our eyes, they are demanding more of them.
‘We are expected to focus at three different distances — long distance, on a newspaper or book, and on smartphones. So this could mean more than one pair of reading glasses or more expensive varifocals,’ says Mr Barsam.
Our smartphones are changing our posture. ‘Our bodies are a product of what we do on a daily basis,’ says Kirsten Lord, a chartered physiotherapist.
‘I now see far more people with pain in their neck or shoulders. We tend to poke our heads forward when we’re reading something on a phone or tablet. This position squashes the top of your spine and compresses the nerves that go up to your head. The result can be headaches and feeling tired and stiff.’
Excessive phone use could change the definition of your jawline. ‘I’ve seen an increase in the number of women in their 30s concerned about weakness in the lower third of their face,’ says cosmetic dermatologist, Dr Sam Bunting.
‘As we age, our skin’s elasticity decreases and it’s feasible that bending our neck forward for hours on end to look at smartphones and tablets may mean there is more of a downwards tug on the delicate skin.’
Considering how hot phone screens get after a long call, it’s no surprise that some experts are concerned they can give you pimples or sweat rash. Which? Magazine carried out tests on a sample of 30 mobile phones and discovered that, on average, a handset had 18 times more harmful germs on it than the flush handle in a men’s lavatory.
Computers, laptops, tablets and phones tend to give off a blue light, thought to interfere with the natural hormones, such as melatonin, which help us to sleep. We might think our phones facilitate communication, but studies suggest otherwise. ‘Technology can make it hard to manage boundaries in our lives,’ says Dr Emma Short, a psychologist at the University of Bedfordshire.
‘So if we’re on our phone, we don’t give our full attention to those we’re physically with. Research also suggests the more engaged we are in social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, the lonelier we can become as family, friends and work relationships suffer.’