First there was carpal tunnel syndrome, then BlackBerry thumb and then texting thumb. With the release of the Palm Pre and Apple’s impending iPhone 3.0, consumers may want to watch out for so-called “cellphone elbow,” the latest in a string of tech-related ailments.
A report published in the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine warns of cubital tunnel syndrome, or cellphone elbow, an aching or numbness in the forearm and hand caused by too much time spent gabbing on one’s mobile.
Increased pressure on the nerve in the forearm from prolonged cellphone use leads to decreased blood flow and causes pain and tingling, write physicians Michael Darowish, Jeffrey Lawton, and Peter Evans. It’s the second most common kind of nerve compression syndrome behind carpal tunnel and can lead to “permanent motor deficits.”
“The exact incidence of cellphone elbow is not known, but anecdotal reports and our own clinical experience indicate that its incidence parallels the rise in the use of cellphones and computer workstations,” they add.
The solution? Don’t talk on your cellphone as much, and the doctors also recommend avoiding activities that keep the elbow flexed more than 90 degrees for long periods of time.
On the other hand, cellphone addicts may take comfort in a Scientific American story on cellphone elbow in which Michael Hausman, chief of hand and elbow surgery at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital, says, “It’s not actually caused by anything. There are hundreds of millions of people who talk on cellphones who are never symptomatic. Someone who gets this has a predisposition to have the problem.”
He adds, “The use of the cellphone doesn’t cause this problem. A person with a predisposition to this problem may become symptomatic when the elbow is flexed beyond 90 degrees. That can happen at night when we sleep or [are] performing a task like talking on the cellphone.”
However, he admitted to having the condition himself — and recommended using a hands-free device or headset to alleviate the issue.
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