So, what exactly is phone pinky on TikTok and how can you work out if you have it or not?

Everyone on TikTok is freaking out about the newest health scare, called phone pinky and it’s a major sign you could have a serious phone addiction. But what exactly is phone pinky, and how can you work out whether you have it or not?

The two major symptoms of the condition are a large dent between the two knuckles of the pinky finger on whichever hand you use to hold your phone in. The second is that your pinky finger will naturally curve inwards when you’re relaxed.

@morg.124

time to take a brain break…. #pinky #iphonepinky #pinkyfinger #addicted #phone #socialmedia #genz #phone #screentimelimits #screentime #brainbreak

♬ Titanic flute fail – kate dwyer

Phone pinky is believed to be caused by the weight of holding your phone for long periods of time, and suddenly all that TikTok scrolling starts to add up.

Sydney medical practitioner, Dr Zac Turner has seen a rise in the amount of young people who come to see him about pain in their pinky. He explained: “At least once a fortnight, I will see someone who has some sort of issue caused by mobile phone usage.

“Funnily enough, I am seeing teenagers coming in with pain, almost like a ‘trigger finger’ which occurs when you close your fist and open your fingers up. It’s caused by a little bit of calculus that sits along the tendons and ligaments that causes pain and stiffness when bending and straightening their digits.”

@girlboss4lyfe

i think i win this trend #iphonepinky #broken #dislocated

♬ Army Dreamers – Kate Bush

But most importantly, can phone pinky ever be reversed, because I now cannot see anything other than how weird and bent mine looks.

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Dr Zac added: “I have made a lot of patients buy phone mounts for their homes which takes the strain off their fingers. As well as changing up how you hold the phone, patients can do exercises, such as using one of those spring loaded devices you can squeeze to improve grip strength or a stress ball. You also can try swapping hands and fingers and start using the voice-to-text feature found on most smartphones, as a lot of the issues arise from tapping away.”

Old habits die hard, so looks like I’ll be stuck with my angled pinky for quite a while!

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Featured image via TikTok.