There’s no doubt that technology has helped us to connect to our near and dear ones better. But at the same time, it has brought a number of problems to our lives. One such problem is the phantom vibration syndrome that is caused due to the excessive usage of mobile phones. It involves the false notion of vibration of the phone when it is actually neither ringing nor vibrating. This may occur when the subject is engaged in some other activity distant from their phone or when they are carrying it inside their pocket.

Causes of Phantom Vibration Syndrome
The main cause for phantom vibration syndrome is that the brain becomes conditioned to hearing the vibration and the neural pathways are activated even when the phone does not ring. There are different factors controlling this symptom and they include the following:

• The number of vibrations or rings one is conditioned to: The number of rings or vibrations that a person experiences daily is a controlling factor for the phantom vibration syndrome. More the number of vibrations, more the effect caused. With repeated hearing of the same ring or same kind of vibration, the reverberations hit your eardrum quite a number of times. The neural loop keeps firing consequently. It may keep on firing when there is no such vibration or ringing and as a result you hear the ring or feel the vibration when it is not actually occurring in reality.

• The number of years for which one is subjected to these rings and vibrations: Today’s generation has been conditioned to these rings and vibrations right from their birth. As a result, they are more likely to experience this symptom as compared to the others who have used mobile phones for hardly one or two years.

• Chemistry of the Brain: The chemistry of the brain of an individual is another determining factor in this case. Things like genetics, neural activation and neurotransmitters play influential roles in causing this type of condition. Also, people with psychological anxiety and anxious predisposition have greater chances of experiencing this problem.

Due to the difference in the chemistry of brains, some people may experience these symptoms after using mobile phone for just a few years while others may remain unaffected in spite of using it for quite some time.

• Frequency of the sound or vibration: The frequency at which the sound or the vibration occurs also decides whether an individual will be subjected to phantom vibration syndrome. Usually the rings or vibrations which excite our eardrums lie within the range of 1000-6000 Hz. It is advisable to reduce the frequency as much as possible.

• The receptors in the skin: The skin receptors called Pacinian Corpuscles are mainly responsible for the sensation of shock or vibration. Whenever your phone vibrates within the frequency range of 130Hz and 180Hz, the vibration is sensed by these receptors and consequently a signal is sent to the brain.

Cures of Phantom Vibration Syndrome
So far we have discussed about the causes and reasons of the syndrome. Now it is the time to know about the methods by which you can cure it.

• Avoid using cell phones as much as you can: Begin it with few hours a day and slowly convert it into no usage at all. Decrease the number of calls per day to the minimum necessity and if possible keep your phone switched off.

• Turn off the ringer or vibration: You could simply turn off the ringer or vibration and receive calls by observing the lights glowing on your phone.

• Choose the Airplane Mode: Keeping your phone in the airplane mode can prevent it from ringing or vibrating frequently while allowing you to take emergency calls.

• Adjust the intensity of vibration and volume of ringing: You should also reduce the intensity of vibration and volume at which the phone rings. This will lessen the effect of rings and vibrations and consequently save you from the ill-effects of it.

Take these measures to prevent Phantom Vibration Syndrome and you will be able to get a healthy, peaceful life.