INFLUENCE OF PROBLEMATIC SMARTPHONE AND SOCIAL MEDIA USE ON MUSCULOSKELETAL HEALTH: FROM CHRONIC DISORDERS TO ACUTE INJURIES

Smartphones and social media platforms are integral to communication, education, employment, entertainment, and social interaction. Although research on problematic smartphone and social media use has focused mainly on psychological and behavioral outcomes, increasing evidence indicates relevant physical and musculoskeletal consequences. This narrative review synthesizes evidence concerning chronic musculoskeletal symptoms, postural and biomechanical factors, myofascial findings, and acute injuries associated with smartphone use, and considers behavioral injury pathways related to social media. Relevant systematic reviews, meta-analyses, observational studies, experimental investigations, emergency-department surveillance studies, and scholarly syntheses were identified through targeted literature searches and reference tracing. Intensive or problematic smartphone use is associated with symptoms involving the neck, upper back, shoulders, wrists, hands, and thumbs, although causal relationships remain uncertain. Acute-injury studies document sprains, strains, fractures, hand and wrist trauma, head and neck injuries, falls, and transportation-related injuries associated with mobile-device involvement. Pediatric studies and experimental pedestrian research support distraction as an important mechanism. Emerging evidence also documents physical harm associated with risky social-media challenges and social-media-related interpersonal violence. Smartphone- and social-media-related physical health risks therefore extend beyond chronic postural complaints and involve mechanical, attentional, environmental, and behavioral mechanisms. Prevention should combine ergonomic education, movement variability, distraction awareness, digital-health literacy, age-specific injury prevention, and responsible engagement with social-media content.