Is "selfie elbow" real?

A new, catchy, condition has been making headlines: "selfie elbow".  The question is, is this a real condition?  Although the name sounds ridiculous, this condition is nothing new.  As an elbow specialist who takes care of a variety of elbow conditions, I see this type of injury routinely.  "Selfie elbow" is similar to other repetitive strain conditions that happen around the elbow.  I'm sure many of you have heard of tennis elbow or golfer's elbow.  "Selfie elbow", like those seen with tennis and golf, is an overuse injury.  Extending your elbow while keeping a firm grip on your phone puts excess stress on the tendons that attach to your elbow and control function in your hand and wrist.  Many who suffer from this type of condition have significant difficulties with use of the hand, especially with lifting and grasping activities.

Luckily, this condition almost always improves without surgery.  They key to healing this type of condition is refraining from any activities that cause pain and performing specific physical therapy.  Overall resolution of the symptoms can take weeks to months to improve.  Rarely, this condition lasts so long that I would recommend surgery.  If needed, the condition is easily treated with simple, minimally invasive, arthroscopic surgery of the elbow.