Call with Caution: Cell Phone Elbow
Cell phones have made it possible to talk on the go, to contact people from any place. Modern life has become truly mobile thanks to the cell phone. However, with all this convenience, cell phones can also be a pain: in the elbow?
A new report outlines the prevalence of cell phone elbow, an affliction in which users experience pain and numbness in their elbow due to extensive cell phone use. The idea is similar carpal tunnel syndrome, which received much attention over recent years. In fact, the technical name for cell phone elbow is cubital tunnel syndrome, and the effect on the muscles concerned is essentially the same, but instead of being located in the wrist, cell phone elbow results in elbow issues.
“Repetitive, sustained stretching of the nerve is like stepping on a garden hose,” said Dr. Peter J. Evans, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Hand and Upper Extremity Center. “With the hose, you’re blocking the flow of water. With the elbow, you’re blocking the blood flow to the nerve, which causes it to misfire and short circuit.”
While there is a growing number of cases being diagnosed of cell phone elbow, the good news is that the condition is easily preventable and treatable. Users are simply encouraged to avoid holding their phone in one position for too long in order to reduce the amount of strain on the affected muscles. For those who are already feeling strain, it is advisable to do simple stretches in order to help prevent some of the damage.
This study was published in the May issue of the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.
The irony of this is, I was talking on a cell phone while I read this article. My elbow feels a little pinched now…
This article has been on Yahoo news for 4 days now, give me a f-ing break.
just put it on speaker people. jeez. If you have a flip phone and your driving, speaker it and then fold the phone closed over your safety belt near your neck and shoulders. If the conversation is to private for speaker than your probably somewhere, where you should be having it. Keep it quick, call them back from a park bench with your lunch.
Cell phone elbow seems to be a bad name for it. From the description, I get this when I sleep. One could get this from playing games, even curling up with a good book.
We call it carpal tunnel syndrome not keyboard wrist. This is the same thing that caused the pig scare with the H1N1 (aka: swine flu).
I’m not some pro-cellphone person, I just like blaming the cause rather than a symptom.
In some weird, twisted way, I get the feeling we’ll be seeing more and more of these type of ailments with catchy names as time passes. All the more reason for the Obama health care?
Can’t wait for the drug the FDA will approve to “cure” this “disease”!!!!