Community | June 02, 2009 | 3 comments

'Cell phone elbow' damages nerves

source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/02/cell.phone.elbow/index.html

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If your pinkie and ring fingers tingle or feel numb, you might not want to pick up that cell phone to call the doctor. Orthopedic specialists are reporting cases of "cell phone elbow," in which patients damage an essential nerve in their arm by bending their elbows too tightly for too long.

When cell phone users hold the phone to their ears, they stretch a nerve that extends underneath the funny bone and controls the smallest fingers. When talkers chat for a long time in that position, it "chokes the blood supply to the nerves. It makes the nerves short-circuit. The next thing you know, there's tingling in the ring and small finger," said Dr. Peter J. Evans, the director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

When that happens, the advice is simple: Switch hands -- before it gets worse.

People who have this condition, called cubital tunnel syndrome, can feel weakness in their hands and have difficulty opening jars or playing musical instruments.

"It could impede your typing ability, your writing ability," Evans said. "People get very unintelligible writing if it gets severe."
  1. groups:
    Community,   Health
  2. tags:
    News,  Health,  Cell Phones,  damaged nerves
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3 comments // 'Cell phone elbow' damages nerves

  • twitterbot
    • 0
      twitterbot  

    • @wcdarling on twitter says "Warning on "cell phone elbow" - An ailment I will never have. Only person I talk more than 5 min. with is my mom."

    • 2 years ago
  • good_stuff
    • 0
      good_stuff  

    • I beleive the above twitter messege is eluding to the fact that this will inspire more folks to use bluetooth ear things that make you look super cool. I bet he has one on right now.

      On a lighter note, I kinda want a bluetooth handset that is an oversized landline phone so that it fits between your ear and your shoulder comfortably. It would be a new retro invention that all the hipsters would jump on board with. Shoot, nobody steal my invention before I have time to call the inventor's hotline to patent it.

      Ah... the things one can ramble about with more than 140 charactors.

    • 2 years ago
  • twitterbot
    • 0
      twitterbot  

    • @csledzik on twitter says "Mad opportunity for Bluetooth technology PR RT @ThreePs: Cell phone elbow has its 15 minutes of fame."

    • 2 years ago
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