Dr. David Hoewisch is concerned about your joint health and offers this information concerning elbow pain: We all know how “irritating” it can be when someone is talking loudly on a cell phone (as long as that person isn’t us!). Honestly, doesn’t it seem as if you can’t even take a quiet walk along the beach or in the park without someone walking by shouting into their cell phone? You could say, in fact, that nowadays the excessive use of cell phones has become a pain in our psyche. Well, the detrimental effects of excessive cell phone use apparently doesn’t stop with “pain in the brain.” A new report outlines the prevalence of “cell phone elbow,” an affliction in which users experience pain and numbness in their elbow due to extensive cell phone use. The idea is similar carpal tunnel syndrome, and the effect on the muscles and tendons concerned is essentially the same except a different nerve is pinched. Instead of being located in the wrist, cell phone elbow (”cubital tunnel syndrome”) cell phone elbow originates in the elbow region and results in pain or numbness in forearms, as well as tingling in pinkie and ring fingers. According to a study from the Cleveland Clinic, doctors are seeing more and more individuals experiencing these symptoms.

What exactly produces the problem? Holding a cell phone to the ear causes the elbow to bend, thereby stretching the nerve between muscles and tendons. When the arm is bent for long periods of time, the nerve gets inflamed. “Repetitive, sustained stretching of the nerve is like stepping on a garden hose,” said Dr. Peter J. Evans, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Hand and Upper Extremity Center. “With the hose, you’re blocking the flow of water. With the elbow, you’re blocking the blood flow to the nerve, which causes it to misfire and short circuit.” The first symptom of cell phone elbow is usually pain just below the elbow in the forearm. This is usually followed by the sensation of pins and needles in the pinkie and ring finger. In the most severe case those fingers can curl up and become difficult to use.

The good news is that the condition is easily preventable and treatable. Users are simply encouraged to avoid holding their phone in one position for too long in order to reduce the amount of strain on the affected muscles. For those who are already feeling strain, it is advisable to do simple stretches in order to help prevent some of the damage.

And, of course, a quiet walk in the park or along the beach with your cell phone turned off or, better yet, left behind, would not only go along way in reducing cell phone elbow, but it might do a lot to improve the health of your psyche as well!

This study was published in the May issue of the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.

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