'Selfie elbow' becoming new medical condition

Be warned if you are an avid selfie-taker since capturing that perfect selfie can put you at risk of developing "selfie elbow" which is slowly becoming a real medical condition, says a report.

Like tennis elbow or golfer's elbow, an addiction to selfie-taking can cause a pain in your primary pic-snapping elbow, a media report said on Monday.

In a recent case,award-winning journalist and NBC's Today show host Hoda Kotb went to a doctor complaining of pain in her elbow, elle.com reported.

"I went to the orthopaedist and he said, 'are you playing tennis or ping-pong?' I told him I was taking selfies," Kotb was quoted as saying.

"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. Selfie elbow, everyone has it," added Kotb, who is also a well-documented figure on photo-sharing website Instagram.

Her doctor recommended icing her elbow and certain exercises to help relieve the soreness.

"Basically, the interface between technology and the human body sometimes causes injuries of over-exuberance," Jordan Metzl, sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in the US, was quoted as saying in a Cosmopolitan report.

The problem is simply 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," Metzl added.

The condition can be treated by taking pain relievers like Advil or Motrin for the inflammation and putting on some ice as well as stretching the muscles.

"Maybe, people should alternate their arms -- start spreading the load," Metzl pointed out.

From gaming and chatting to selfie-taking, texting and tweeting, there has been a significant rise in injuries in teenagers than before.

"For those who are dedicated selfie-takers, using a selfie stick can work like an arm extender and takes the pressure off the elbow," suggested Charles Kim, musculoskeletal rehab specialist at Rusk Rehabilitation at NYU Langone Medical Center in the US.

--IANS

rt/na/dg