The way your arm bends more than 90 degrees when you're blabbing on a cellphone is not natural, doctors warn, and could lead to aching and numbness.
Cubital tunnel syndrome, given the more eyebrow-raising moniker "cellphone elbow," occurs when increased pressure on the elbow reduces blood flow, according to a report the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. This causes pain and tingling in the forearm and hand.
As a nerve compression syndrome, cubital tunnel trails only carpal tunnel in commonality. It can lead to "permanent motor deficits," the report says. The solution, obviously, is less cellphone use, a headset or just switching hands periodically.
This is one of those medical decrees that's not actually backed by, you know, hard fact. We're offered the statistic of 3.3 billion worldwide active service contracts, but no corresponding numbers on cases of cellphone elbow. The authors of the study acknowledge that there's only anecdotal evidence and "our own clinical experience" to link cubital tunnel syndrome to a rise in cellphone use.
Indeed, the Cleveland Clinic's report is in dispute. Scientiic American argues flat out that cell phone use doesn't cause the problem. "There are hundreds of millions of people who talk on cell phones are never symptomatic," the article says. It notes that people with a predisposition to cubital tunnel will feel the symptoms for a variety of reasons including cell phone use, but also from sleeping with the elbow bent past 90 degrees.
Forget the medical bickering. Here's an unscientific recommendation that you can use in lots of situations: If it hurts, don't do it.
