Smartphones, digital and hyper connections can be enemies of the skin and our body often causing dull complexion, wrinkles and dark circles. Moreover, we are also at risk for incorrect postures of the neck and back and fingers of the hands. These are some of the effects that experts call ‘digital aging’: ailments and disorders due to the excessive – and incorrect – use of new technologies.
Dr. Alessandra Narcisi, dermatologist at the Humanitas hospital, talked about this topic in an interview.
The effects of technology
In addition to dull skin color and wrinkles due to the passage of time, while we use mobile phones and tablets, without even realizing it, we adopt harsh facial expressions, squinting our eyes and foreheads. Positions that can cause wrinkles and marks in the long run.
“It’s called digital aging, one of the factors of premature aging of the skin that affects women and men at all ages and manifests itself with wrinkles on the face and neck as a result of electromagnetic waves emitted by the screens of PCs, smartphones and tablets,” explained the doctor. “The electromagnetic waves emitted by the screens increase the temperature of biological tissues, favoring the overheating of water-rich tissues, such as the dermis, and thus leading to the deterioration of collagen fibers with the consequent onset of wrinkles and double chin”.
The expert’s advice
To take care and maybe preserve the skin, Dr. Narcisi recommends the daily use of “creams, both day and night, to repair the collagen damaged by electromagnetic waves of the screens. Moreover, with regard to the eyes, and the sight, it is important to “often take your eyes off the monitor,” she added. In general for those who work in an office and “get up every 20 minutes or so, make sure you have good lighting in the room where you work, maintain a proper posture in front of the PC to avoid positions that can promote double chin”.
Eating habits also contribute to good prevention: “drinking plenty of water” is essential to “keep the skin hydrated” and “follow a diet rich in antioxidants, present in fruits and vegetables, prefer foods rich in omega-3 such as blue fish, salmon, walnuts and walnut oil, linseed and chia seeds,” concluded Narcissi.
