Teens run risk of ‘selfie elbow’
F YOU were left in shock after reading recent reports that “selfie elbow” is a new medical condition, be warned, as the condition can catch up fast with those young people who are obsessed with clicking self-portraits to impress their friends on social media, say experts in India.
Although India has yet to hear about many selfie elbow patients, the selfie obsession is here to stay.
Recently, award-winning US journalist and NBC Today show host Hoda Kotb was diagnosed with this new lifestyle condition. Like tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow, an addiction to selfie-taking can cause a pain in your primary pic-snapping elbow and the day is not far away when you hear or read about an Indian teenager with this condition.
“Selfie-taking is emerging as an avid sport in which everyone can participate and share self-portraits with the world. And like any other sport, it has its share of injuries,” said Dr Dhananjay Gupta, director of bone and joints at Fortis Flt Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital in Delhi.
Clicking too many selfies will affect upper limb, elbow and shoulder muscles which automatically will lead to functions getting degraded.
“A working person suffering from this might have to take off for a few weeks as clicking too many selfies is a health hazard,” added Dr Nishchal Chugh, director of joint replacement at Saroj Super Specialty Hospital, also in Delhi.
In Kotb’s case, her doctor recommended icing her elbow and doing exercises to relieve the soreness.
“Although it is too early to comment on the excessive use of the elbow or thumb while clicking a selfie, there is always a possibility that by incorrect stretching of the tendons, an injury can be caused to joints like the elbow,” said Dr Raman Kant Aggarwal, director of shoulder surgery at Fortis Bone and Joint Institute.
“Selfie elbow is more of an abnormal and repetitive loading of muscles around the elbow, leading to micro ruptures which cause inflammation and pain. This ultimately heals with scarring and causes recurrent pain,” Gupta said.
Even minimal stress can then initiate severe pain in your elbow. This leads to painful inhibition of muscles resulting in further weakening.
“This builds up a vicious cycle and severe loss of function,” Gupta sid.
From gaming and chatting to selfie-taking, texting and tweeting, there has been a rise in social networking-related injuries in teenagers.
Experts suggest that the selfie-taking habit should be kept at a reasonable level to avoid such a condition.
“Apply ice packs and take some anti-inflammatory medications in case of emergency,” Gupta said.
“You may require a physiotherapist for therapy and for muscle stretching and strengthening exercises if the trouble rises.”
The experts also suggested the use of a selfie stick to avoid extra stress on the muscles.
“Use both hands alternatively to take selfies,” Gupta advised.
“This prevents build-up of stress on only one arm muscle group.” – IANS