Spare the mobile, save your skin, say Hyderabad doctors

HYDERABAD: Think you know all about the health issues associated with the ubiquitous smartphone? Well, you don't, and here's another reason to keep it at a distance, at least sometimes.Forget "texting thumb" in which people excessively using smart-or touchscreen phones complain of orthopaedic issues involving injury to thumb or fingers. That is passe. The new and growing complaint by smartphone users in the city is numbness due to reduced skin sensitivity and damage to the soft tissue of thumb and forefinger. Some experts call the new issue "smart phone numbness".Doctors say the number of people complaining of reduced skin sensitivity, numbness, and burning sensation in thumb and forefinger has been growing. Though texting thumb continues to be a major health issue for smartphone users, damage to the ventral or palmar portion of thumb is a new challenge. Some doctors even warn of severe damage to the fingerprints themselves, creating biometric problems. As an increasing number of financial and non-financial transactions including attendance is linked to fingerprints, any damage to the palmar side may impact biometrics.City doctors warn continuous rubbing or sliding of fingers across mobile phone screen results in hardening of the skin of thumb and fingers, particularly the forefinger. Burning sensation and numbness are common issues and if these problems are not addressed at initial stages, there may be permanent damage to the skin - including fingerprints.Though there are no official statistics on mobile phone numbness, as the cases are new and emerging, doctors say they receive at least half a dozen cases each a week. The complaints are: burning sensation, pain, numbness, roughness and hardening of skin. Although there are a number of studies on the 'texting thumb', no one has initiated a research on mobile phone numbness yet.Heat from phone can lead to numbnessDr G Manmohan, consultant dermatologist, Apollo Hospitals, Hyderguda, said repeated sliding and rubbing of palmar surface of thumbs in smartphone use can lead to thickening of skin as it happens in any other work involving friction. “A thickened skin is less sensitive compared to thin skin elsewhere on the body. Secondly, radiation, vibration and heat from the phone can add to the thickening and numbness,” said Dr Manmohan, adding that over a year it may distort fingerprints. He said faulty positioning of thumb during smartphone use can also lead to small joint pain.Dermatologist Dr Radha Shah said thickening of the skin of thumb would cause reduced sensation. Though short-time contact of thumb with touchscreens when skin is normal looking does not cause sensitivity, if skin is thickened sensation is relatively reduced in that zone. She said excessive rubbing or sliding of fingers or thumb on mobile screen may hurt in the long run.The best solution to the mobile phone numbness problem is to use smartphone only when required. Frequent rubbing against the screen would only complicate issues. As skin regenerates at a fast rate, the damage can be overcome by judicious use of smartphones. But if it has caused permanent damage, it is difficult to regain normalcy, warns senior general physician Dr P Ramachandra Murthy.Well, too much of a good thing can be bad. So, spare the phone, save your skin!