Daily Times

You know how you’re constantly taking a break from staring at your phone right under your nose and trying to live your life?

Yes, that – working your eyesight to read that minuscule life-changing quote on Instagram – is actually ageing you, a lot faster than you’d think!

If you need to have your phone in visible vicinity at all times and can’t do without checking up on it every few hours and have probably looked at it at least once in the course of reading this article, you have the smartphone face. And unlike the name suggests, it’s really not the smartest thing to happen to you.

According to Lumiere Dermatology Medical Director Dr Kiran Lohia, “Smartphone face is a condition, where people are noticing early sagging of their cheeks, jowls and chins, resulting in a less defined jaw line and older appearance.”

So if your mirror reflection is showing you a wrinkled, sagging neck, maybe even a double chin and a drooping jaw line, you know what you’re suffering from. Anyone, who is active on their smartphone with a poor posture will get it.

“When you constantly look down at your phone or tablet, your platysma muscles are activated and shortened, an over activity that results in sagging,” says Dr Kiran Lohia. “Also, since your head is bending forward, you’re increasing the gravitational pull on your facial tissues, resulting in more looseness, particularly on the lower regions of your face. As the neck muscles intermingle with facial muscles in the lower face, the facial sagging is worsened by this extra neck muscle tension.”

You can avoid getting it with simple posture modification, when using your phone, hold it at eye level so you’re looking straight ahead and not applying tension on your neck muscles – there is no better prevention than proper posture!” suggests Dr Lohia.

Of course, the ultimate solution is to stare at your phone a little less, and move on with your life a little more.