'Bicycle face', 'telephone tinnitus', and 'railway spine': How anxiety about new tech becomes medicalised

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-02-27 00:01

New Zealand

Photo by Amsterdam City Archives on Unsplash

Fears around new technologies such as cellphones, 5G towers, and wind farms are perhaps unsurprising given our historical reactions to new technology, say researchers in a NZ Medical Journal Viewpoint article. They describe the late 19th century example of 'bicycle face' where newspapers - including in NZ - warned that women riding bikes could experience nervous exhaustion and 'facial grimacing', leading to disfiguration. Although the medical profession was skeptical, the Viewpoint authors say, the idea was further popularised by a few influential doctors writing in the press. They also highlight scares about 'telephone tinnitus' following the invention of the phone, and 'railway spine' among early train users. The researchers draw a parallel with modern social media and influencers, giving a number of suggestions on how doctors can manage pseudo-medical conditions, such as validating peoples' anxieties around new tech as being common and real.

News release

From: NZ Medical Journal

Bicycle face: a timely reminder on discarded diagnoses in the age of anxiety

During New Zealand’s bicycle boom of the 1890s, a health scare emerged after several influential
doctors in America issued health warnings to women about the adverse effects of cycling. Chief
among these was “bicycle face”, a “nervous condition” attributed to a constant state of stress from
attempting to balance a bicycle combined with prolonged facial grimacing, which was believed to
result in nervous exhaustion and disfigurement. The scare peaked between 1895 and 1910, when it
became a common feature in New Zealand newspapers and magazines. The creation of this
pseudo-condition was a way for men to exercise control over women by discouraging them to ride
bicycles and curtail their newly found independence. This episode mirrors a broader historical
pattern in which new technologies have triggered dubious health fears in New Zealand, such as
those over the safety of mobile phones, 5G towers and wind turbines.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: University of Auckland

Funder: No information provided.

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