While some studies have suggested that mobile phone use causes migraines and not other headaches, there is strong evidence to the contrary.Using a phone may cause a headache for a variety of reasons, from eye strain to poor posture and more.
Mobile phone use can cause increased headaches in adults, teenagers, and young children, which means that limiting your time looking at your mobile phone can be beneficial at any age.
This article explores how phones may cause migraines and headaches, and what you can do to help reduce such pain.
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Symptoms Associated With Mobile Phone Use
Mobile phone use can cause migraines, headaches, and other symptoms, including dizziness,eye strain, neck pain, and more.
The more you use your mobile phone, the higher your likelihood of developing migraines and other symptoms.
The number of hours that you spend on your phone is directly linked to your headache frequency. Researchers are confident that mobile phone use is what causes the headaches since there is a temporal association, meaning the symptoms typically occur after, not before, the use of these devices.
Interestingly, while migraines and other symptoms typically occur within a few hours of prolonged mobile phone use, one study has found a far more delayed effect. Children who were exposed to cell phone use prior to birth were just as likely to have headaches as children who used mobile phones during the first seven years of childhood.
The authors of the study could not explain this surprising finding and suggested that the influence of prenatal mobile phone exposure on headaches is complicated to sort out.
How Mobile Phones May Cause Migraines
Mobile phone use involves several factors that can contribute to headaches, includinglooking at the light on the screen, straining your eyes, bending over in a stooped posture, using your hands and fingers to type or play games, and using the phone to make phone calls.
How Blue Light Strains Your Eyes
All of these activities have been shown to contribute to migraines and their associated symptoms. Correcting the problem requires a number of strategies, including:
Reducing Your Mobile Phone Use
Parents like to be available in case children become sick at school or need to be picked up from activities. And, mobile phones also give people the ability to socialize and find fast information and entertainment.
Nevertheless, there are some strategies for reducing cell phone use that can help alleviate headaches:
A Word From Verywell
Managing or avoiding triggersis an essential component in migraine therapy. That being said, avoiding screen time entirely is probably unreasonable for most people. Not only is technology an essential component of daily life functioning, but it also can provide comfort and enjoyment.
The take-home message here is moderation. If you find a pattern between high screen time exposure and your migraines, cutting back is a good idea. In fact, you may find that decreasing your screen time not only reduces your migraines but improves your overall quality of life and well-being, giving you time to engage in other enriching activities.
5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wang J, Su H, Xie W, Yu S.Mobile phone use and the risk of headache: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies.Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):12595. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12802-9Dagli R, Hans R.Effect of mobile phone radiations on oral health.J Int Oral Health. 2015;7(1):i‐ii.Auvinen A, Feychting M, Ahlbom A, et al.Headache, tinnitus and hearing loss in the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) in Sweden and Finland.Int J Epidemiol. 2019;48(5):1567–1579. doi:10.1093/ije/dyz127Sudan M, Kheifets L, Arah O, Olsen J, Zeltzer L.Prenatal and postnatal cell phone exposures and headaches in children.Open Pediatr Med Journal. 2012;6(2012):46-52. doi:10.2174/1874309901206010046American Optometric Association.Computer vision syndrome.Additional ReadingAl-Hadidi F, Bsisu I, AlRyalat SA, et al.Association between mobile phone use and neck pain in university students: A cross-sectional study using numeric rating scale for evaluation of neck pain.PLoS One. 2019;14(5):e0217231. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217231Cleveland Clinic.Is your cell phone giving you headaches (or blurry vision)?Redmayne M, Smith E, Abramson MJ.The relationship between adolescents' well-being and their wireless phone use: a cross-sectional study.Environ Health. 2013;12:90. doi:10.1186/1476-069X-12-90Taehtinen RE, Sigfusdottir ID, Helgason AR, Kristjansson AL.Electronic screen use and selected somatic symptoms in 10-12 year old children.Prev Med. 2014;67:128-33. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.07.017
5 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Wang J, Su H, Xie W, Yu S.Mobile phone use and the risk of headache: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies.Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):12595. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12802-9Dagli R, Hans R.Effect of mobile phone radiations on oral health.J Int Oral Health. 2015;7(1):i‐ii.Auvinen A, Feychting M, Ahlbom A, et al.Headache, tinnitus and hearing loss in the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) in Sweden and Finland.Int J Epidemiol. 2019;48(5):1567–1579. doi:10.1093/ije/dyz127Sudan M, Kheifets L, Arah O, Olsen J, Zeltzer L.Prenatal and postnatal cell phone exposures and headaches in children.Open Pediatr Med Journal. 2012;6(2012):46-52. doi:10.2174/1874309901206010046American Optometric Association.Computer vision syndrome.Additional ReadingAl-Hadidi F, Bsisu I, AlRyalat SA, et al.Association between mobile phone use and neck pain in university students: A cross-sectional study using numeric rating scale for evaluation of neck pain.PLoS One. 2019;14(5):e0217231. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217231Cleveland Clinic.Is your cell phone giving you headaches (or blurry vision)?Redmayne M, Smith E, Abramson MJ.The relationship between adolescents' well-being and their wireless phone use: a cross-sectional study.Environ Health. 2013;12:90. doi:10.1186/1476-069X-12-90Taehtinen RE, Sigfusdottir ID, Helgason AR, Kristjansson AL.Electronic screen use and selected somatic symptoms in 10-12 year old children.Prev Med. 2014;67:128-33. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.07.017
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Wang J, Su H, Xie W, Yu S.Mobile phone use and the risk of headache: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies.Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):12595. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12802-9Dagli R, Hans R.Effect of mobile phone radiations on oral health.J Int Oral Health. 2015;7(1):i‐ii.Auvinen A, Feychting M, Ahlbom A, et al.Headache, tinnitus and hearing loss in the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) in Sweden and Finland.Int J Epidemiol. 2019;48(5):1567–1579. doi:10.1093/ije/dyz127Sudan M, Kheifets L, Arah O, Olsen J, Zeltzer L.Prenatal and postnatal cell phone exposures and headaches in children.Open Pediatr Med Journal. 2012;6(2012):46-52. doi:10.2174/1874309901206010046American Optometric Association.Computer vision syndrome.
Wang J, Su H, Xie W, Yu S.Mobile phone use and the risk of headache: A systematic review and meta-analysis of cross-sectional studies.Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):12595. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12802-9
Dagli R, Hans R.Effect of mobile phone radiations on oral health.J Int Oral Health. 2015;7(1):i‐ii.
Auvinen A, Feychting M, Ahlbom A, et al.Headache, tinnitus and hearing loss in the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS) in Sweden and Finland.Int J Epidemiol. 2019;48(5):1567–1579. doi:10.1093/ije/dyz127
Sudan M, Kheifets L, Arah O, Olsen J, Zeltzer L.Prenatal and postnatal cell phone exposures and headaches in children.Open Pediatr Med Journal. 2012;6(2012):46-52. doi:10.2174/1874309901206010046
American Optometric Association.Computer vision syndrome.
Al-Hadidi F, Bsisu I, AlRyalat SA, et al.Association between mobile phone use and neck pain in university students: A cross-sectional study using numeric rating scale for evaluation of neck pain.PLoS One. 2019;14(5):e0217231. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217231Cleveland Clinic.Is your cell phone giving you headaches (or blurry vision)?Redmayne M, Smith E, Abramson MJ.The relationship between adolescents' well-being and their wireless phone use: a cross-sectional study.Environ Health. 2013;12:90. doi:10.1186/1476-069X-12-90Taehtinen RE, Sigfusdottir ID, Helgason AR, Kristjansson AL.Electronic screen use and selected somatic symptoms in 10-12 year old children.Prev Med. 2014;67:128-33. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.07.017
Al-Hadidi F, Bsisu I, AlRyalat SA, et al.Association between mobile phone use and neck pain in university students: A cross-sectional study using numeric rating scale for evaluation of neck pain.PLoS One. 2019;14(5):e0217231. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217231
Cleveland Clinic.Is your cell phone giving you headaches (or blurry vision)?
Redmayne M, Smith E, Abramson MJ.The relationship between adolescents' well-being and their wireless phone use: a cross-sectional study.Environ Health. 2013;12:90. doi:10.1186/1476-069X-12-90
Taehtinen RE, Sigfusdottir ID, Helgason AR, Kristjansson AL.Electronic screen use and selected somatic symptoms in 10-12 year old children.Prev Med. 2014;67:128-33. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.07.017
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