An Indian study revealed that smart phones can make headaches worse. 400 patients with headaches were part of a study between June 2017 and December 2018. 194 were non-smartphone users and 206 were smartphone users. The headaches were the same in both groups except that 17.5% of the smartphone users had an aura before their headache started, and the non-users had only 7.7% of an aura. 95.6% of smartphone users used headache pills while only 80.9% of the non-smartphone users used headache pills. There was a difference between low smartphone users and high smartphone users. Low smart phone users used 5 headache pills per day, while high smart phone users used 10 pills per day. Another observation was that non-users had a good response of relieving their headaches with pills. But high users of smart phones had a poor response to the headache pills they took.
What these studies mean
These findings show that smartphone use causes more headaches, and the headaches are more difficult to treat with headache pills.
Recent research showed that bending the neck to scroll through your phone can trigger a headache. The chronic forward bending in your neck causes a strain of your neck muscles and is the equivalent of carrying 20 to 30 pounds of weight. This can cause a tension headache.
The second cause can be eye strain when you hold your phone too close to your eyes. This can be checked out by your optometrist.
The third possible cause can be the stress from being connected at all times. This leads to chronic stress and tight muscles around the neck.
What you can do to treat your headache
Dr. Heidi Moawad is a neurologist who teaches at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and John Carroll University. She said: “Features such as hands-free settings, voice activation and audio functions could potentially hold the key to helping smartphone users benefit from their phones without exacerbating their headaches.”
There are simple home remedies you can apply to treat a harmless headache. But check first with your physician to rule out other underlying problems that can also cause a headache.
Smart Phones Can Make Headaches Worse
Conclusion
Smart phones can make a person’s headaches worse, a recent study found. The constant flexion in the neck to stare at the mini screen of the smart phone causes chronic muscle spasm in the neck. In the study 95.6% of smartphone users used headache pills while only 80.9% of the non-smartphone users used headache pills. There was a difference between low smartphone users and high smartphone users. Low smart phone users used 5 headache pills per day, while high smart phone users used 10 pills per day. It appears that the constant bending of the neck causes chronic muscle spasm in the neck muscles. This in turn triggers tension type headaches. More studies, particularly long-term follow-up studies are required to further clarify this.
