Recent studies found that, head and neck injuries are rising due to cell phone usage.

Dr. Boris Paskhover of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and others analyzed 20 years of emergency room data and found an increase in cellphone injuries starting after 2006, around the time when the first smartphones were introduced.

The research was led by a facial plastic surgeon whose patients include a woman who broke her nose when she dropped her phone on her face. Dr. Paskhover said his experience treating patients with cellphone injuries prompted him to look into the problem.

The study was published in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology, and involved cases in a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission database that collects emergency room visit information from about 100 hospitals. The researchers tallied 2,500 patients with cellphone-related head and neck injuries from 1998 through 2017.

Research shows that most of patients in the study weren’t hospitalized, but the researchers said the problem should be taken seriously.

Cellphone use also has been linked with repetitive strain injuries in the hands and neck, and injuries to other parts of the body caused by distracted use.

Furthermore, they estimated that in America, about 76,000 people were injured during this time. Annual cases totaled fewer than 2,000 until 2006, but increased steeply after the introduction of the first smartphones. About 40% of those injured were ages 13 to 29, and many were hurt while walking, texting or driving.

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