Has your smartphone done this to your finger?

An alert from a cell phone provider has prompted concern over how smartphones may be damaging people's fingers. Photo / @lucypurnell

Whether you're checking emails or playing Candy Crush, people are spending an increasing amount of time on smartphones.

But have you ever wondered how the amount of time attached to your phone is affecting you physically?

We know phones disrupt sleep, affect vision, and recently have been blamed for "tech neck", but now people are claiming their phone use is causing a deformity.

Smartphone users have taken to social media to share images of their "smartphone pinkies" - a bent little finger indented from the way they hold their phone.

On Twitter, users have shared pictures of their damaged fingers with one posting a contrasting snap of both hands, showing her right finger noticeably more bent than her left.

She wrote: "I have an actual #iphone injury. My finger has bent and will not straighten. Need to change the way I hold my phone."

I have an actual #iphone injury. My finger has bent & will not straighten. Need to change the way I hold my phone. 😂 pic.twitter.com/DqnIVh5h14

— Lucy Purnell (@lucypurnell) November 8, 2015

The influx of people concerned about smartphone pinky follows an alert from Japanese cell phone provider NTT Docomo.

They warned of damage to little fingers from using them to balance and support the weight of their phone.

A physiotherapist and osteopath told the Daily Mail regular use of phones, especially for texting or emailing can cause hypermobility of the small joints around the fingers and thumbs due to ligaments being stretched.

They advised that over a period of decades, overuse of the fingers and thumbs can cause osteo-arthritis as the cartilage degenerates between the joints.

Grampa, why is your little finger bent all crooked?
Well child, let me tell your about my generation's flawed phone-holding technique.

— jerd (@TeedleJay) December 9, 2015

- nzherald.co.nz