Pout, tongue out, whacky expressions, change filters, *click* and there you have a selfie. That’s how you create digital memories! Selfie obsession has no limits; selfie addicts would go any length to click a perfect ‘epic’ selfie even if means to put their lives at risk.

Admit it, we all love selfies, but our love for selfies could in turn give us a ‘selfie elbow’. Oh don’t say WTF, it’s true. Popular American TV host Hoda Kotb visited the hospital complaining of “an achy elbow” which turned to be ‘selfie elbow’, reports Elle (Read the full story). 

The raised and out stretched arms, and the continuous clicks induces the same pain as tennis elbow. Kobt told Elle, "I went to the orthopaedist and he said, 'Are you playing tennis or ping-pong?' And of course I'm not, so I told him I was taking selfies." According to the report she was advised to rest to ease the soreness and ice packs for her “achy elbow”.

Another report published in the Washington Post (Read it here) quotes Mary Ann Wilmarth, spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association, to suggest that such conditions could be seen as variations of the strain injuries that users of computers kept getting. The carpal tunnel syndrome was one such ailments that hit computer users hard since the late 1990s.

The article goes on to add that selfie elbow is similar to tennis elbow that causes inflammation of the tendons in the arm caused as a result of extending it and trying to grip the phone simultaneously. The body has not been designed to do these twin tasks and overuse often results in such challenges.

Of late, studies and doctors all over the world have been trying to caution users against excessive indulgence in texting, gaming and snapchatting which adversely affects their physical and psychological wellbeing.

Are we altering the course of medical science and human evolution with our frenzied obsession with technology? Oh hey, this calls for a ‘lost in thought’ selfie!

Tags : Selfies, Selfie elbow, Tennis elbow