Are Cellphones Harmful to My Health?

For older adults, excessive smartphone time can fuel anxiety, isolation and even physical pain

Adam Rosenbluth, M.D.,

AARP

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Published March 16, 2026

illustration on a purple background showing an older adult walking and staring intently at their cellphone, completely unaware that they are stepping directly in front of a white car while the driver leans out the window and waves a hand in alarm

James Yates

I am 74 years old, and like the youngsters, I spend several hours every day looking at my phone. Can this be a problem for my health?

Most of us have some attachment to our smartphones, and that’s not always a bad thing. I love that my 92-year-old mother still texts with my kids. In a world that sometimes pushes older adults to the sidelines, technology can make life easier and even help combat loneliness. Used this way, it’s genuinely healthy.

But on the flip side, phone addiction is real. It can undermine mental and physical health in very specific ways.

That’s why the question I ask my patients is not “How many hours are you on your phone?” but rather, “Do you find yourself scrolling when you should be exercising? Have you stopped going out because you’re texting everybody instead? Are you lying awake at night, staring at your screen for hours? Does your phone make you feel anxious when you put it down?”

Research backs up what I’m hearing from my patients. An AARP 2026 Tech Trends survey found that 90 percent of adults 50 and over have a smartphone; texting is now the leading communication method among 50-plus adults; and 9 out of 10 use social media. This is not all bad, of course: 73 percent of those surveyed said technology made their life easier, and 57 percent said it made aging easier. But there can be a darker side to ubiquitous cellphone use.

One 2023 study found that smartphone addiction in older adults is closely linked to feelings of alienation and subjective cognitive decline. In other words, people who feel isolated and worried about their memory are more likely to become overly dependent on their phones. This creates a vicious cycle: The more disconnected or cognitively uneasy you feel, the more you retreat into the phone, and the more the phone pulls you away from real-world activities that nurture your brain and emotional health.

One of the most common mental effects I see in older adults with problematic phone use is increased anxiety and restlessness. If you feel compelled to check your phone constantly or become upset when you can’t, that’s your nervous system being pushed into a state of alertness that it was never meant to maintain all day long.

It’s not your fault. Phones and apps are designed to hold your attention. The “rabbit hole” where you intend to look at one thing and suddenly 30 minutes disappear isn’t accidental, it’s engineered. When the pattern becomes habitual, it can fuel worry, irritability and mental fatigue. Instead of feeling restored after using your phone, you may feel more tense, scattered or preoccupied.

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Now let’s look at the phone’s effect on sleep, one of the most powerful foundations of good health at any age. If you’re on your phone late at night, you’re doing two things that interfere with rest: exposing your brain to bright, stimulating light, and keeping your mind actively engaged when it should be slowing down. Poor sleep won’t just leave you tired; it worsens memory, mood, balance and even pain perception.

So try to avoid using your phone an hour before you go to bed, and don’t pick it up if you wake up in the night or early in the morning. Ideally you wouldn’t keep your cellphone by your bed, though I know that can be hard, especially considering how many people are giving up their landlines. At least turn off your notifications before you go to sleep.

And pain is a very real physical consequence of cellphone overuse. After speaking with a hand surgeon, I began asking my patients about hand and thumb pain. Constantly holding and scrolling and texting on a phone can worsen pain at the base of the thumb and throughout the hand. The phone may not cause arthritis, but it absolutely can aggravate it.

Then there’s the issue of falls, which are a major health risk for older adults. Being absorbed in a screen while on the move is legitimately dangerous. I see people of all ages, even some using canes, crossing busy streets staring at their phones instead of paying attention to the traffic.

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Posture is also affected by heavy cellphone use. It can cause forward-leaning neck, slouching and rounded shoulders. Conversely, upright posture helps to keep your balance, which in turn lowers the risk of falls. What’s more, reaction time naturally slows with age. When you add distraction, the risk of falling rises dramatically. That’s why I tell my patients, when the phone rings, don’t instantly grab for it. Make sure you’re stable first, or just let the call go to voicemail and listen afterward.

Believe me, I’m not anti-phone. I’m against letting a device quietly take over your body, your mind and your daily life. Used wisely, your smartphone can keep you engaged. Used compulsively, it can steal your sleep, strain your hands, cloud your thinking and put you at physical risk. Let the phone serve you, not the other way around.