Move Over Tennis Elbow – Here Comes ‘Selfie’ Elbow

If you need a new pain to be concerned about, consider “selfie elbow” which is becoming a real medical condition, according to NBC’s Today show host Hoda Kotb. She went to a doctor complaining of pain in her elbow and he made the diagnosis. It was not tennis elbow but selfie elbow, he told her. Kotb explained, “When you take the picture, your arm is up, bent in a weird way and you just click, click, click—think about how many you take: 20, 30, or 40.”

“Basically, the interface between technology and the human body sometimes causes injuries of over-exuberance, ” said Jordan D. Metzl, M.D., sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery to a reporter for Cosmopolitan Magazine. He blames the problem on overuse. “You get selfie elbow from taking too many selfies, as you put too much stress on the muscle and it irritates the area where the muscle comes off the bone and you get this inflammatory response.”

What to do about it? Consider taking Advil or Motrin. Charles Kim, M.D., musculoskeletal rehab specialist at Rusk Rehabilitation at NYU, Langone Medical Center said to consider using a selfie stick. “For those who are dedicated selfie-takers, using a selfie stick can work like an arm extender and takes the pressure off the elbow, ” he suggested.