How Dangerous Is Talking On Your Cell Phone Really?
June 25, 2009 by Amy
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Surely you’ve seen reports of cell phone injuries, cancer, and other maladies from cell phone use. What do you think about it all? Well, here is my response to all the hoopla.
Cell Phone Elbow~Caused by holding the phone up to your ear from extended periods of time. This causes a tightness at the elbow. It stops the blood flow to the nerve that controls the small fingers. Tingling and numbness results. Doctors say switching hands while talking helps. I say, “DUH!” I mean doesn’t this just make sense? Also, getting an earpiece would help considerably if you are a long talker. I’m not saying in any way this injury isn’t real, just silly.
Blackberry Thumb or Texting Thumb~This is caused by texting on tiny little keyboards, especially I guess the Blackberry keyboard. Ok, now this one really gets me. Do these people ever think that maybe they are just texting too darn much? Remember Nintendo thumb? I do and I thought that was a little silly then but I do recall getting cramps in my thumb playing Super Mario Brothers for hours on end. Maybe I’m just as guilty here. However, I certainly stopped playing when the cramping began. That’s just me.
Cancer~This cancer scare is really no joke, but is there really any proof of this yet? One set of studies by the cellular industry links cell phone use and brain cancer. The FDA says more studies are needed. I agree with the FDA. I remember lots of studies linking many things with numerous cancers. I’m not trying to stick my head in the sand on this, just trying to be realistic.
One word comes to mind here. Moderation! One more is common sense.
Now for a grin, have you seen the news article about the first man ever with a Twitter injury? He sustained is injury from a tree branch which hit him in the head while he was Twittering away on his Blackberry. James Coleman, a British man, jokes about it in an article in the Telegraph. He calls himself a “Twit”. He has Twittered about his injury and intelligently now vows to keep his cell phone in his pocket while jogging to work.
As for me, I plan to be very careful and hopefully smart about my cell phone use. I will switch hands while talking, perhaps even use an earpiece. I will text within reasonable limits. And, I will most definitely not text or Twitter with low lying branches about.
photo credit: Kevin Cortopassi
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