Are you addicted to your smartphone and do not refrain from using it even when you walk on the road? Using the phone while walking entails some health risks that you should know about and that’s exactly what we discuss in this article.
There’s something catchy about using the phone while walking. It lets you feel that you are making the best possible use of your time. You are getting your exercise and not wasting any time on taking phone calls, because you interact while you take a walk. Besides, interacting on the phone makes your walk more interesting. However, some negatives are also involved with the concept which should not be ignored.
It is a well-known fact that one shouldn’t talk on the phone when driving as this distracts the driver and increases the odds of road accidents. The same stands true for using the phone while walking.
When you talk on the phone, you are likely to get deeply involved in the conversation. So, you shouldn’t be using the phone while walking as this accentuates the odds of injuries and accidents. It is going to be difficult to keep connected with the surroundings with you being deeply involved in the conversation. Another factor that one should bear in mind is that the excessive electromagnetic radiation that mobile phones emit is bad for your body.
Talking on the phone when walking is broadly classified as distracted walking. This poses some risks that one should necessarily be aware of. That’s primarily because your ears, eyes, and mind will be engaged if you speak on the phone while you walk. This way, you might get injured upon losing track of your surroundings.
It is then noteworthy that using the phone while walking is not the only activity that is potentially harmful. Some equally harmful activities are listening to music or texting on your phone when you walk.
Health risks of using the phone while walking:
1. Muscle Damage
Using the phone while walking is something that we do every day and have been doing for years. Many readers will be surprised to note that the activity has the potential to damage your muscles.
When you walk while talking on the phone, one of the hands holds the phone to your ear while the other swings freely. This could potentially lead to an imbalance, between the posterior oblique chain and anterior oblique chain. So, the core reasons that lead to an imbalance while conducting this activity are your weight and posture. This affects the pelvis rotation.
To overcome this imbalance, you may want to involve yourself with some simple exercises like knee press low bridge, hand and leg raises, and hand to knee press.
2. Body Imbalance
Muscle damage is not the single and sole damage associated with using the phone while walking. The activity distracts one and could lead to body imbalance and at times accidents and injuries.
Involving yourself in a conversation over the phone is one of the surest ways to lose track of the surroundings. This makes the odds high for twisting an ankle, stumbling upon a stone, slipping, or losing body balance.
With this body imbalance, there could be injuries in different body parts. You might even suffer from torn ligaments or fractures.
3. Infertility
This is a point likely to induce surprise. The problem is more likely to come to the fore if you prefer to keep the phone in your pocket and use earphones or headphones to interact with your loved ones.
You might find it convenient to carry your phone in the back pocket of your jeans. Your phone stays pretty much accessible here but does little good for your health. So much so that many researches and studies have gone on to show that keeping the phone in the back pocket is associated with male infertility.
Electromagnet rays that smartphones emit are at radio frequency. The levels of damaging free radicals are exceptionally high here. As a result of exposure to these rays, sperm motility, and sperm vitality undergo a transformation to significantly reduce because the oxidative stress is high. The percentage of living sperms hence reduces and so does their ability to move and swim.
4. Neck Pain
Neck pain is typically not just an issue that has a lot to do with talking on your phone while walking. Instead, the issue has more to do with your general posture and ergonomics.
If you walk on the road while you text on the phone or scroll your social media feeds, you’ll lower your head and your neck will feel additional pressure. This additional stress could lead to neck pain and the modern term for it is the text neck.
This is one of the problems associated with posture which could worsen if not associated with the right time. It may even lead to further complications such as headaches and shoulder pain, or even cervical cancer in some cases.
To heal or prevent the pains associated with text neck, you may want to involve yourself with some simple neck exercises.
Conclusion:
The commonplace saying goes that prevention is better than cure. To overcome all these health conditions mentioned in the article, it is best if one gives up using the phone altogether when one goes for a walk. It is important to understand that this is not just about reducing the odds of meeting with an accident.
Another important point discussed in this article is that most of these health conditions can reversed if one goes for some posture correction exercises. This will benefit overall health as well and when you do simple neck exercises, it increases the mobility in many body parts.
