'We all have it': Videos show finger deformation caused by smartphones

Repeated use of our smartphones can trigger major joint problems. To the point of deforming the fingers of millions of users?

Smartphones are superb devices, so practical that they have become indispensable in everyday life. However, they have the unfortunate tendency to impose themselves more and more in our lives, to the point of worrying professionals, doctors, psychologists and even sociologists and public authorities, with the key awareness campaigns on the time we spend in front of screens.

This time, it's users who are sounding the alarm. A recent wave of posts, particularly on TikTok, warns with varying degrees of humor about a potential deformation of the hands caused, according to users, by excessive use of their phone. Many messages, gathered under the name “phone pinky” (“pinky” being the little finger in English), have thus flooded on the platform in recent days. 

© Capture TiktTok

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In one of these videos posted on TikTok, a young woman compares the little finger on her left hand, which is used to hold her smartphone, to that of her right hand, which enters messages and scrolls through the content on the screen. The fact of squeezing the device between her knuckles for several hours, and in particular the little finger under the smartphone, supporting the device, would be, according to her, the cause of a flagrant change.

In the images, the difference is striking: the finger on which the phone rests seems exaggeratedly twisted, as if it had gradually curved to accommodate the smartphone. On the other hand, the hand is perfectly straight and shows no signs of deformation.

This strange phenomenon has already been shared more than 160 million times. It features many users, particularly from Generation Z, who are frantically displaying the difference between their little fingers. And the results seem worrying at first glance, since many of them suffer from this strange twist on one of them.

Questioned by the New York Post on the subject, a doctor nevertheless shows nuance. He points out that the anatomy of the little finger varies greatly from one person to another and even from one hand to another. the other and that there is no official diagnosis for this phenomenon at this stage. He also suggested that those who think they have a crooked finger may be suffering from a slight pre-existing malformation.

Dr Peter Evans, orthopaedic surgeon, finally believes that the deformation observed may be a temporary reaction of the little finger: holding the phone could in fact compress a nerve and deform it for a few moments. It is nevertheless strongly recommended not to use your phone for too long, otherwise you may experience numbness or tingling, or even joint problems, particularly in the elbows and thumbs.