Your Phone Can Be a Real Pain in the Butt

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Your back pocket isn’t a good place for your phone. Not only could you bend or crack your phone if you sit on it, but storing your phone in your rear pocket can cause pain in the butt and back.

According to Orly Avitzur, M.D., a practicing neurologist and medical adviser for Consumer Reports, a lot of people use their back pocket as a phone holder.

Avitzur wrote that she routinely sees patients who suffer from sciatica pain, which starts in the buttocks and shoots down the leg. The root cause of the pain for several patients was traced to their phone placement, in the back pocket of their pants.

“The most recent victim: a 6-foot-2 man who was pleased to learn that the solution to his stubborn sciatica pain was not replacing his car, which he had been blaming, or surgery or drugs, but simply finding a new place to carry his iPhone,” Avitzur writes.

Cellphones aren’t the only cause of a pain in the rear. Wallets or tool belts or other objects that put pressure on the buttocks and back can trigger sciatica pain.

“The condition is common enough that I now routinely check the rear pockets of patients who come to me with complaints of buttock pain radiating to the thigh,” writes Avitzur.

Men, you may also want to avoid carrying your phone in your front pants pocket, especially if you plan on being in the family way. Some research has found that storing a cellphone in your front pocket could impact your sperm quality.

Where do you store your cellphone? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.

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