Using your smartphone can be useful in a wide range of scenarios, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it can also be rather detrimental to your overall health and wellbeing. A recent study published in Brain and Behavior recently showed how smartphones can make migraines a lot worse than might have been the case otherwise.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this study was conducted over a period of months between August of 2021 and January of 2022. The one requirement for participants was that they had to use their smartphones at least thirty minutes a day, and they also had to report on a wide range of symptoms that they might experience.
It turns out that the people who used their smartphones more often tended to get even worse migraines than those who used them less. It’s not that using a smartphone gave people migraines, rather the findings suggest that smartphone overuse can exacerbate symptoms among those who have a pre-existing condition that makes them prone to migraines.
What’s more, those that used their smartphones a bit less also reported that their medications were much more effective. Sleep quality was also markedly worse for those that used their smartphones more, which is dangerous because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up causing even more severe migraines as well as greatly increasing the frequency with which they occur.
One thing that might make this study less than reliable is that all of the data was self reported. Another study will have to be conducted that attempts to analyze the same set of factors in a clinical setting.
Still, this study shows that smartphone usage can most definitely have a negative impact on physical wellbeing. If nothing else, it suggests that people at the very least feel worse if they use their phones too much which points to a grain of truth in the findings that might warrant a second go of it under more objective conditions.
Read next: 5.2% of Android Devices Have Now Upgraded to Android 13
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this study was conducted over a period of months between August of 2021 and January of 2022. The one requirement for participants was that they had to use their smartphones at least thirty minutes a day, and they also had to report on a wide range of symptoms that they might experience.
It turns out that the people who used their smartphones more often tended to get even worse migraines than those who used them less. It’s not that using a smartphone gave people migraines, rather the findings suggest that smartphone overuse can exacerbate symptoms among those who have a pre-existing condition that makes them prone to migraines.
What’s more, those that used their smartphones a bit less also reported that their medications were much more effective. Sleep quality was also markedly worse for those that used their smartphones more, which is dangerous because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up causing even more severe migraines as well as greatly increasing the frequency with which they occur.
One thing that might make this study less than reliable is that all of the data was self reported. Another study will have to be conducted that attempts to analyze the same set of factors in a clinical setting.
Still, this study shows that smartphone usage can most definitely have a negative impact on physical wellbeing. If nothing else, it suggests that people at the very least feel worse if they use their phones too much which points to a grain of truth in the findings that might warrant a second go of it under more objective conditions.
Read next: 5.2% of Android Devices Have Now Upgraded to Android 13
