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Is Your Cell Phone Causing Headaches?

© Barbara J. Mitchell

Cell phones are everywhere these days, and so are the scare stories about the risks of using them. Personally, I think the biggest danger your mobile phone causes you is that you'll wreck your car because you're distracted by your phone, or maybe that the audience at an event you attend will lynch you because your phone keeps ringing.

However, a recent study conducted in Sweden and Norway seems to show that mobile phones can cause headaches. They studied 17,000 people in those two countries who use mobile phones in their jobs. They asked for reports of headaches, a feeling of warmth around the ear, and burning sensations on the face.

Norwegians, apparently more sensitive, reported that 31% of them had at least one symptom, while only 13% of the Swedes had one or more symptoms. One prominent problem was headaches, which began either during or after a call and lasted as long as two hours.

In many people the headaches occurred only with a call of 5 minutes or longer, and some study participants admitted to stress or difficulty hearing at the time of those calls. Some of them had taken steps to alleviate their headaches by not talking as long, and by getting equipment to talk hands-free.

One study doesn't really prove much, but when you're trying to figure out the cause of headaches, you want to take absolutely everything into consideration. If you think you're getting headaches from your cell phone calls, think about what else was going on while you were making each of those calls. Were you stressed out, trying to change an appointment because you were caught in a traffic jam, worried because the babysitter wasn't answering right away, or anxious to contact your husband or wife to share good news?

If the traffic jam scenario fits, think about all that pollution you were breathing in as well as the frustration and tension. And what were you thinking or worrying about while you sat there fuming?

Or maybe you were just relaxing and talking with a friend. How long did you talk? Even when you don't think anything else could have caused that headache, consider where you were, how you felt, what time of day it was, what kind of day you had, every detail.

There are some really frightening theories circulating about the risks of using cell phones, many of which sound far-fetched. These phones are a fact of life, and in many jobs you probably wonder how you ever got along without them, so you won't want to listen to off-the-wall stories anyway.