The Concept of Selfie Elbow

Hello, my friend!  While we are all working hard to find the perfect selfie to keep our Instagram profile #lit, we are facing what doctors are calling the modern-day tendonitis. Tendonitis  is a condition in which the tissue connecting muscle to the bone becomes inflamed ( in shorter terms - it makes your elbow hurt #ouch.) You might have heard of tennis elbow or golfers elbow, Selfie elbow is the same thing. They all come from overuse of the elbow resulting in pain or a dull ache in the elbow and weakness with grabbing/ gripping.   On average, millennials spend five hours a week taking selfies and are expected to take over 25,000 selfies in a lifetime. But can you really blame us when there are so many fun filters to take selfies with?!  #selfiegamestrong.   The repetition of taking so many selfies + the awkward position of holding the phone is what is causing selfie elbow.   And selfie sticks can't save us either!  Selfie sticks put stress on the elbow and also can irritate the wrist. So what is a millennial to do? Don't delete your Instagram account just yet (LOL, that was never going to happen). Doctors recommend stretching before any serious selfie sesh! Or try switching off hands when taking selfies to prevent overuse of one elbow. 
If you already have selfie elbow, don't sweat it because it is totally treatable. Try resting and applying ice to your elbow. Also, try some anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen to bring down the inflammation. Give yourself about 4- 6 weeks to heal, and you'll be back to killing the selfie game in no time!