Dr. Steven Chudik, orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist with the Steven Chudik Shoulder, Knee and Sports Medicine Injury Clinic in Westmont, Ill., demonstrates the cause of the newest repetitive use injury, the selfie elbow, to Fox 32 Chicago morning news anchor, Darlene Hill.
In his more than 14 years of treating orthopaedic injuries, Dr. Steven Chudik has seen a lot of injuries that were the direct result of a fad or sports craze–like those that occurred from riders falling off their Hoverboards. Dr. Chudik was recently interviewed by Johnna Kelly, coordinator of public affairs and marketing at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove, Ill., about another orthopaedic condition also the result of a fad–the “selfie elbow.” Dr. Chudik’s orthopaedic expertise on the overuse injury was included in an article for the Advocate Heath Care e-newsletter. (ahchealthenews.com/2016/08/12/suffer-selfie-elbow/) Below is the e-news article, as well as a simple stretching exercise that can be done at home to help prevent the injury and stretch tendons that might already be overused from saying “cheese” too many times.
The e-news article and topic generated considerable interest and questions. Fox 32 Chicago TV invited Dr. Chudik to explain this new millennial phenomenon during a morning news segment with anchor Darlene Hill. The interview was replayed during the mid-day news cast. Click video link above to view interview, or go to Dr. Chudik’s YouTube channel, https://youtu.be/H3T2tni5_pQ/.
SMARTPHONE INJURY
Do you suffer from selfie elbow?
by Johnna Kelly, Advocate Health
Capturing the perfect selfie can be great for your online persona, but it can also lead to a new injury–selfie elbow.
This condition may become a very real health concern, as a recent study calculated that millennials are expected to take as many as 25,700 selfies each over the course of their lifetime. Currently, 55 percent of millennials, 24 percent of Gen Xers and nine percent of Baby Boomers share selfies on social media, according to the Pew Research Center.
Recently, NBC’s Today Show Anchor Hoda Kotb even revealed that she suffered from selfie elbow.
“I went to the orthopedist and he said, ‘Are you playing tennis or ping-pong?’ And of course I’m not, so I told him I was taking selfies,” Kotb told Elle.com. “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.”
Dr. Steven Chudik, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Ill., says selfie elbow is caused by the repetitive motion of extending your arm and firmly gripping the phone.
“Selfie elbow is basically an overuse injury caused by putting too much repetitive stress on the tendon anchoring the muscle of the forearm,” says Chudik.
Selfie elbow symptoms are similar to tennis elbow and include:
- Pain on the outside of the elbow that radiates into the forearm and wrist.
- Weakness with grabbing or gripping an item, such as a cup of coffee.
- Dull ache.
Treatment includes rest (avoidance of the aggravating activities, i.e. less selfies) and therapeutic exercises – particularly stretching – which helps the tendons to recover. Over-the-counter pain relievers and ice can help the symptoms, as well.
“Listen to your body. If something hurts, give it a rest,” says Chudik. “No selfie is worth the pain.”
Dr. Chudik also suggests seeing a doctor if the self-care steps don’t ease the elbow pain and tenderness.
An exercise to help tendons recover from selfie elbow, as well as prevent the overuse injury, is a simple bent wrist stretch, as demonstrated in this photo by Dr. Steven Chudik. When doing this exercise, it is important to remember to keep your elbow straight while you press your wrist down. If done correctly, you should be able to feel the stretch in your forearm. Dr. Chudik recommends doing this stretch three to four times per day for 10 to 15 seconds.
An overuse condition, such as a selfie elbow, is just one of the many orthopaedic injuries Dr. Steven Chudik sees and treats at his Shoulder, Knee, Sports Medicine Clinic in Westmont, Ill. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Chudik, call 630-324-0402, visit stevenchudik.com and click on the Schedule an Appointment tab at the top of the page.