As I type these words, there's nerve-tingling in my ring finger. My neck is fatigued. My forearms ache. Just like everyone else, I spend too much time typing on a keyboard or tapping on a screen. Devices out, heads down, thumbs scrolling.

I should know better. As a writer who relies on tech, I'm in the vanguard of the digital age's physical fallout, a canary in the cyber coal mine.

“Text neck”? Got it. “Cellphone elbow” or cubital tunnel syndrome? Yep. Tendinitis? Check. For well over a decade, there have been months when I couldn't type an email. Or pick up a piece of paper, let alone my children.

Pain is a great and terrible teacher. Few pay attention unless they, too, begin to suffer.

Research, meanwhile, hasn't matched the pace of tech innovation. Still, nearly a decade after the smartphone's arrival, evidence of tech-caused digital disabilities is emerging.

Among the studies: College students with high smartphone use are more likely than those with low use to experience impaired hand function, thumb pain and other issues, a 2015 study in the journal Muscle & Nerve found. Other recent articles associate the use of hand-held devices with discomfort, pain and repetitive-strain injuries.

A recent case study in JAMA Internal Medicine, for example, chronicled a 29-year-old man who played a match-three puzzle video game (such as Candy Crush or Puzzle Quest) one-handed all day for six to eight weeks while doing other tasks. Researchers at Naval Medical Center San Diego said all this play on his smartphone was associated with chronic thumb pain and a ruptured tendon. They noted that gaming suppresses pain perception: In effect, people don't notice their pain enough to stop before going too far.

Whether typing, swiping or tapping, people are stressing an array of muscles, nerves and tendons. Movements that might seem minor can wreak havoc when done repeatedly with force, experts say, and such usage is likely to increase, especially among youths.

By 2015, nearly two-thirds of American adults owned a smartphone, up from 35 percent in 2011, a Pew Research Center report found, and “smartphone ownership is especially high among younger Americans” at 85 percent.

“Text neck” has become a catchphrase describing neck pain and damage from “looking down at your cellphone, tablet, or other wireless devices too frequently and for too long,” chiropractor Steven Shoshany wrote recently on the peer-reviewed physicians' website Spine-health. A head bent 45 degrees forward — a typical tilt while one is texting — exerts a force on the spine of nearly 50 pounds, noted a 2014 study in Surgical Technology International, weight that hangs off neck ligaments, muscles and bones.

In many ways, it's about the angle. Occupational health and safety researcher Jack Dennerlein of Harvard and Northeastern universities found that the ways we torque our necks or twist and overextend wrists or thumbs, along with the length of time we spend on devices, can cause discomfort and pain.

Tablet stands, external keyboards, voice dictation, neck support and styluses could help prevent discomfort, he noted. “Mobile devices allow us to use them in any type of configuration: to lay back in bed, upside down, in all sorts of awkward postures. A few minutes might be OK, but if you're typing emails for three hours, that's not good,” he said.

Dennerlein led a Harvard study that found that adjusting tablet viewing angle — to as straight ahead as possible — provides relief. His other recent research has evaluated the benefits of smaller smartphones and better icon placement for hand comfort and thumb access.

Most advice has not yet filtered down. “Tons of people come in with tendinitis and overuse injuries, and a lot of them are texting,” said Dr. Ryan Zimmerman, a Baltimore orthopedic surgeon and hand specialist. It's hard to determine a sole cause, he said, because arthritis or other issues might factor in. What's clear, he said, is this: “People spend a lot of time with their shoulders rounded forward, focused on this little, tiny device.”

Frequent texters might notice a painful snapping when bending the thumb. Other overuse symptoms include tenderness, pain, tingling and loss of sensation or strength. Treatment may include anti-inflammatories, heat or cold packs, and braces. Next steps: physical therapy, steroid injections or surgery.

Debra Milek, a University of Washington associate professor in environmental and occupational health sciences, noted that worn-out tendons, neck pain and carpal tunnel syndrome have plagued computer users and store cashiers and ended the careers of guitarists. “Discomfort may be an early indicator of future injury,” Milek noted, “which is why it's important to pay attention to how we use these devices.”

Advice for digital device users: Limit screen time and take breaks. Close your eyes every 20 minutes or look to the distance to avoid vision problems. Gently stretch wrists and necks, and alter postures. Some pointers, however, resemble a ballet lesson: Keep shoulders relaxed and elbows close to your body, and your hands, wrists, forearms and thighs parallel.

As tech evolves, device designers should think outside the rectangle, physicians say. A hand-friendly smartphone might wrap around the palm, for example. As Zimmerman noted, “There's nothing about a flat rectangle that's great for a hand.”

Joanne Cavanaugh Simpson is a freelance writer.