(Image source from: Are you a victim of text claw or iPosture?})

From ruling our social lives to helping us navigate through new roads to keeping us entertained and connected to the world 24X7, smartphones and tablets have secured a strong place in our lives, so much so that we can't function without them now. But did you know that these thingamajigs are slowly trending as new health hazards, posing as health risks we barely knew existed a few years ago.

According to a recent study conducted by one of the leading mobile manufacturers Nokia, smartphones can trigger an array of health problems like text claw and iPosture. Read on to know more about the 21st century ailments caused by advanced mobile phones and mobile computers.

NOMOPHOBIA

No-mobile-phone-phobia, or nomophobia, is the name given to the kind of anxiety people suffer when they ‘lose their mobile phone, run out of battery or credit, or have no network coverage’. Affecting mostly women, the symptoms include being unable to switch off your phone, obsessively checking your phone, constant recharging and toilet texting.

SLEEP TEXTING 
Believe it or not, some people are so hooked to their smartphones that they actually text messages while asleep. Generally, it takes place in the first two hours after a person falls asleep and mostly, they are unaware of it. While sleep texting can at times lead to embarrassing conversations, it poses a greater risks to health since it interrupts deep REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Most people wake up feeling exhausted as they don't get deep sleep, which is imperative to higher brain function.

TEXT CLAW 
Too much of Candy Crush or typing on a phone can trigger soreness and cramping in the fingers, wrist and forearm. Text claw is the upshot of constant fine motor activity. Most people work on their phones with their thumbs and in a position that is ergonomically bad. This can lead to tendinitis and other painful condition in arms and hands.

iPOSTURE
iPosture is triggered by slumping and hunching forward while working on computers and hand-held devices. The human head weighs approximately 10lbs. So when you tilt it forward for extended period, it tends to put extra pressure on the spine, causing neck, head and shoulder pain.

AW: Suchorita Dutta Choudhury