Do you have swiper’s thumb

First there was RSI, then text neck. Now, soaring numbers of people are suffering from swiper’s thumb due to the overuse of smartphones.

New research claims the overworked digit has become as much as 15 per cent bigger on people’s dominant hand.

Young adults aged 18 to 34 have noticed the most changes, with one in eight developing the deformity as a result of continuous tapping and grappling with large handsets.

In total, a third of smartphone users felt their bodies had evolved as a result of mobile phone use.

And millions said they had also developed an indent in their little finger from the way they cradle their phones.

With an average of two hours a day spent using phones, the research by phone provider O2 found two in five of the population (37 per cent) even believe their bodies will continue to adapt to their beloved handsets.

Hand therapist Nicola Goldsmith said: “Our thumb muscles are highly complex and located in the base of the thumb as well as in the forearm.

“So an increase in ‘thumb swiping’ could add to muscle strength and bulk in these muscles.”

She added: “As the research shows, these localised changes — such as enlarged thumbs and little finger indents — are becoming the new normal as younger adults are using the phone for longer periods of time.

“But there’s no need to worry that our children could have giant thumbs in the future, as increasingly sophisticated voice recognition interaction with our phones is likely to prevent any long term changes.”

The O2 Mobile Life Report, which surveyed 2,000 people, also showed one in five (19 per cent) of us can’t go a day without our phones, with nearly a quarter (20 per cent) admitting they have fallen asleep with it in their hand.

The study even found five per cent of smartphone users are so attached to their phones they experience ‘phantom vibrations’ with it in their pockets — imagining they can feel their phone alerting them to a call or a message, when it isn’t.

Despite this, one in six (15 per cent) think their phones help us live longer — rising to 27 per cent of those aged between 18 and 34.

Marketing and consumer director for O2, Nina Bibby said: “Smartphones have become an extension of ourselves — it’s difficult to tell where our hands stop and the handset starts.

“It seems our bodies are subtly changing to adapt to the fact mobiles are increasingly a part of our lives.

“Our research even reveals that over one in ten (12 per cent) of us consider it an extra limb and at O2 we understand just how important our customers mobiles are to them.”