Staying glued to your phone can make your skin go lifeless

All you nomophobics out there, it’s time to keep your phone down, especially if you love your skin. The reason is that dermats believe that excessive smartphone usage can wreck your skin.
Woman using phone
You can always try to squeeze in some walk time over calls. Image courtesy: Shutterstock
Nikita Bhardwaj Published: 13 Apr 2022, 09:00 am IST
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We all want glass skin. For that, we go to any extent. From home hacks, DIY face packs, following the latest skin trends to all those expensive skin care products – we do it all. But if those dark circles continue to exist and your skin remains as pale as it was, the problem lies somewhere else. You won’t like it, but let us tell you that your smartphone is the problem. Yes, it may be shocking, but as per a skin expert, staying glued to your smartphone can affect your skin.

Excessive use of mobile phones exposes you to harmful radiofrequency (RF) fields emitted from the devices. And it goes without saying that these rays aren’t good for your skin. Here’s some more science – these radiations are electromagnetic rays. In totality, the more use keep your skin expose to your smartphone, the more damage you are doing to it

According to Dr Sravya. C. Tipirneni, consultant dermatologist and cosmetologist at Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru, the dependency on mobile phones for social media presence, communication, or other purposes can neither be ignored nor reduced.

She says, “The addiction with phones and the various harmful effects that it has on a person’s mind, body, and health are being noticed. However, the least known but significantly serious effects that cell phone usage can have on a person’s skin, are not well-noticed.”

smartphone can affect your skin
Staying glued to your smartphone is a kind of addiction called Nomophobia. Image courtesy: Shutterstock.

5 skin issues that can damage your skin forever if you use too much mobile phone

1. Dermatitis

Dermatitis is an umbrella term to describe skin inflammation. This problem usually makes your skin red and itchy and can occur in different forms due to various causes. Sometimes, there can also be swollen rashes, blister oozes, or flake-offs. Cell phone radiations accelerate antigens even further in those suffering from allergies. The use of nickel and cobalt in the phone trimmings can also cause skin dermatitis combined with radiation.

2. Crow’s feet

“Crow’s feet refer to a branching sort of a wrinkle that usually forms at the outer corner of a person’s eye. These lines mostly diverge from a point in a bird footprint design, giving it the name. Prolonged gazing at the mobile screen and continuous staring down can lead to the formation of wrinkles around the eyes and neck. The smaller font size and the reduced brightness further aggravate the problem,” tells Dr Tipirneni.

3. Wrinkled neck

Staring down continuously over a long duration of time can cause wrinkles on the neck, and this is an initial sign of ageing. The persistent and regular gazing gradually damages the collagen in the neck. This further causes neck wrinkles.

4. Dark circles

This is one of the most known, most observed skin impacts. The blue light coming out of the cell phones impacts one’s sleeping patterns. The lesser a person sleeps, the more are the possibilities of eye bags and dark circles under the eye.

dark circles
Dark circles can be fixed if you reduce your screen time. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

5. Skin allergies and acne

“Yes! It might be news for you but it’s true. Studies have discovered that mobile phones are major carriers of bacteria and germs. Experts even call mobiles more unhygienic than a public toilet. The phones are exposed to innumerable surfaces throughout the day which transfers the tiny germs and we keep using our phones the same way, never realizing how many germs we are giving access to our body, resulting in allergies and acne on the skin,” suggests Dr Tipirneni.

The most basic way to avoid these skin problems is quite simple, make minimum use of mobile phones.

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PERSONALISE NOW

Save your skin with these simple tips and reduce the usage of smartphone

  • Do not gaze at your phone screens for a long time
  • Avoid using mobile phones before bedtime
  • Clean your mobile phones regularly throughout the day with sanitizers/alcohol swabs
  • Do not use the phone when it is overheated. As this overexposure reduces skin’s melanin production, giving you uneven skin tone and even dark spots
  • Be aware of skin issues relating to the dominant side of your face which is in contact with the phone
yoga or exercise
Exercise to utilize your time. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

So ladies, before you spend a fortune on those skin treatments and products, first check whether your smartphone is responsible for damaging your skin or not, and then take a call.

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About the Author

Six-pack abs are all that Nikita needs, along with her daily dose of green tea. At Health Shots, she produces videos, podcasts, stories, and other kick-ass content. ...Read More

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