Be careful folks, we’ve got another cell phone related ailment to add to the “modern maladies” list. Cell phone elbow is a repetitive stress injury that formally goes by the name cubital tunnel syndrome, and is generally caused by repeatedly bending or leaning on your elbow. That frequent bending motion can put undue stress on the ulnar nerve in your arm if positioned incorrectly, and can lead to severe problems down the line if uncorrected. That’s right – every time you pick up your phone and chat about nothing for hours on end, you may be putting yourself at risk for cell phone elbow.
Sounds scary, huh? Well, as serious as cell phone elbow can be (hell, if left untreated, you could end up with a claw like this one), don’t start freaking out just yet. Most cases of cell phone elbow come and go, and cause no real pain other than a fleeting numbness in your hands. Not only that, there are as of yet no solid figures regarding how many cell phone user out there currently suffer from cell phone elbow, and the condition itself seems relatively easy to take care of. Worst-case scenario is surgery, but most of the time it can be remedied by a splint, elbow pad, or just a reduction of the repetitive movements that caused it in the first place.
Still, we here at MobileCrunch care about you, the readers, so if you experience numbness and pain in your hand (particularly in the ring and little fingers), do yourself a favor and get your self checked out.