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25th August 2023
11:04am BST
A TikToker left a woman in shock after claiming that the way you hold our smartphones can permanently change the shape of your finger.
Most of us spend hours every day on our phones, sometimes for useful stuff like work and often for far less important stuff like laughing at memes.
And along with the much-talked about effects that our phones can have on our brains and mental well-being, it turns out they might be altering our bodies as well.
This was pointed out by TikToker Callum Joyce on an episode of his Bedtime Stories podcast.
Speaking to his co-presenter Hannah, he explained the 'smartphone pinky' theory.
In an excerpt from the podcast, Callum said: “Because we hold our phones so much, your little finger actually has an indent in it.”
He then tells Hannah to take out her phone to test the theory, prompting her to say: “Callum, you’re gonna blow my mind right now!”
And, sure enough, she notices an indent on her pinky, saying that hers is "really bad."
In the comments, many others were left shocked after checking their own pinky.
One person wrote: “Not me staring at my pinky’s indent in horror.”
Another said: "I'm so surprised."
But not everyone was convinced, with one person commenting: “All fingers have the indent."
“I have it on my both pinky and I only use right hand,” another TikTok commenter claimed
Whilst the jury might be out on the 'smartphone pinky' theory, there does seem to be some evidence suggesting that the way we hold our phones could be damaging to our hands.
Lloyds Pharmacy pharmacist, Pareena Patel, told The Sun: "Smartphone pinky is a social phenomenon thought to be caused by frequent smartphone use.
“This is where users have reported a dent on their pinky finger from holding their smartphone too much.
"While there is no clinical evidence yet to suggest that smartphones can damage our pinkies specifically, nor is this an official medical condition or term, there are reasons to believe excessive phone use can impact our muscular function and may damage our joints particularly in the thumb and wrist area.
"For example, we know that repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a common condition which affects the muscles and nerves if they are overused or subject to frequent repetitive movements."
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