Corresponding Author: Priyanka Chugh *, Assistant Professor, Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Physiotherapy, New Delhi, India; E-mail: drpriyankachugh2@gmail.com 376 Int. J. Pharm. Med. Res. 2016; 4(5):376-381 ISSN: 2347-7008 International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Research Journal homepage: www.ijpmr.org Original Research Article Selfie Elbow-Latest Tech Injury Priyanka Chugh 1* , Rahul Sharma 2 , Tabish Fahim 3 1 Assistant Professor, Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Physiotherapy, New Delhi, India Physiotherapist , ( Research fellow ) Department of neurology AIIMS, New Delhi, India 3 HOD, Physiotherapy, NOIDA International University, NOIDA, UP 1. Introduction Oxford dictionary defined Selfie as, “A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a Smartphone or webcam and shared via social media”[1]. Before the rise of this selfie concept, smart phones or social media, the thought of taking self portraits was existed among people with using self-timers on the cameras. The idea behind the selfie meant to be different than using a self timer, and also it should not take a longer snapping time process as self timer. Most importantly to be a selfie, photograph should be captured with a camera held at arm’s length or focused at a mirror[2]. Initially popular with young people, selfies gained wider popularity over time[3,4]. By the end of 2012, Time magazine considered selfie one of the "top 10 buzzwords" of that year; although selfies had existed long before, it was in 2012 that the term "really hit the big time"[5]. According to a 2013 survey, two-thirds of Australian women age 18–35 take selfies—the most common purpose for which is posting on Facebook[4]. A poll commissioned by smartphone and camera maker Samsung found that selfies make up 30% of the photos taken by people aged 18–24[6]. Selfies have been popular on social media. 7 Instagram has over 53 million photos tagged with the hashtag #selfie. The word “selfie” was mentioned in Facebook status updates over 368,000 times during a one-week period in October 2013. During the same period on Twitter, the hashtag #selfie was used in more than 150,000 tweets[8]. Recently, award-winning US journalist and NBC’s Today show host Hoda Kotb was diagnosed with this new lifestyle condition.Like tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow, an addiction to selfie-taking can cause a pain in your primary pic-snapping elbow and the day is not too far when you hear or read about an Indian teenager spotted with this condition, experts say[9]. “Selfie taking is emerging as an avid sport in which everyone can participate and share self-portraits with the world. And like any other sport, it too has its share of injuries,” Dr. Dhananjay Gupta, Director (Bone and Joints) at Fortis Flt Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital, told IANS. Clicking too many selfies will affect upper limb, elbow and shoulder muscles which automatically will lead to functions getting degraded. “A working person suffering from this might have to take off for a few weeks as clicking too many selfies is a major health hazard,” added Dr. Nishchal Chugh, Director (Joint Replacement) at Saroj Super Specialty Hospital[9]. “Although it is too early to comment on the excessive use of the elbow or thumb while clicking a selfie, there is always a possibility that by incorrect stretching of the tendons, an injury can be caused to joints like the elbow,” noted Dr. Raman Kant Aggarwal, Director (Shoulder Surgery Department) at Fortis Bone and Joint Institute.“Selfie elbow is more of an abnormal ARTICLE INFO: Article history: Received: 23 September, 2016 Received in revised form: 11 October, 2016 Accepted: 20 October, 2016 Available online: 30 October, 2016 Keywords: Selfie Selfie Elbow Elbow pain Physiotherapy Hoda Kotb ABSTRACT Selfie taking is emerging as an avid sport in which everyone can participate and share self- portraits with the world. And like any other sport, it too has its share of injuries. Although it is too early to comment on the excessive use of the elbow or thumb while clicking a selfie, there is always a possibility that by incorrect stretching of the tendons, an injury can be caused to joints like the elbow. Recently, award-winning US journalist and NBC’s Today show host Hoda Kotb was diagnosed with this new lifestyle condition. Like tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow, an addiction to selfie-taking can cause a pain in your primary pic-snapping elbow and the day is not too far when you hear or read about an Indian teenager spotted with this condition. Selfie elbow is more of an abnormal and repetitive loading of muscles around elbow, leading to micro ruptures which cause inflammation and pain. This ultimately heals with scarring and causes recurrent pain. Even minimal stress can initiate severe pain in your elbow. This leads to painful inhibition of muscles resulting in further weakening. This builds up a vicious cycle and severe loss of function. So, it is suggested that the selfie-taking habit should be kept at a reasonable level to avoid such a condition.