Cell phone elbow? Something else? Holy hell this hurts.
October 27, 2017 11:30 AM   Subscribe

Um, I have out-done myself. I have managed to injure myself by talking on the phone. Details below -- do I need to see a doctor?

I was on the phone for about 30 minutes and, though the call was on speaker phone, I was holding the phone out with the screen facing up, my elbow bent about 45 degrees. It didn't hurt at all during the call. When I ended the call and put the phone down, I noticed excruciating pain on the inside of my elbow and weakness in my shoulder. The inside of my elbow hurts so bad when I straighten my arm -- I would put it at like a 7 on the pain scale.

I googled this and I come up with "cell phone elbow" or perhaps "golfers elbow" and I guess maybe I pinched a nerve (cubital tunnel). I was wearing a loose hoodie and I took it off when I felt the pain in my arm, and I noticed imprints on my skin, like my bunched up hoodie was pressing on the inside of my elbow enough that it left temporary imprints. But I don't feel numbness or tingling, just pain inside my elbow and muscle weakness in my shoulder.

It's been over an hour, I took some Aleve, and this still hurts like a MFer, not to mention my arm still feels a bit weak -- do I need to go to the doctor, or can I just self treat and expect it to go away soon? Should I try to stretch my arm out, even though it hurts, or kept it bent in the position so it doesn't hurt, but rest it? I took off the hoodie and I'm in short sleeves so nothing is pressing against the inside of my elbow. Should I try ice? Heat? I put my elbow under hot water and it seemed to feel better, but I wonder if the heat was just distracting me from the pain. Halp! I want to be able to use my arm.
posted by AppleTurnover to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)
 
get thee to a sauna / hot tub
posted by mannequito at 11:51 AM on October 27, 2017


ice, always, for nerve or muscle stuff.
posted by fingersandtoes at 12:17 PM on October 27, 2017


it's only been an hour? you'll almost definitely be fine unless you have some pre-existing condition. Take Aleve regularly, ice it, use it as little as possible. If there's no improvement in three days then it's doctor time.
posted by AFABulous at 12:38 PM on October 27, 2017


there are tendinitis exercises but don't do them until the pain goes away.
posted by AFABulous at 12:39 PM on October 27, 2017


Drink water and apply ice. Don't apply heat to inflamed areas.
posted by hooray at 1:23 PM on October 27, 2017


Response by poster: It's feeling better -- still hurts but the muscle weakness isn't so bad now at least. Since it's Friday, I wanted to make sure I shouldn't try to see my doctor today before the day runs out. Since it seems to be getting better I'll wait it out. I applied some ice and rested it. I'm only wearing short sleeves when I have long phone calls in the future, haha.
posted by AppleTurnover at 2:02 PM on October 27, 2017


Nerve stuff only effects downstream function, so for the shoulder weakness it probably wasn't the hoodie that did it. Check and see if there was anything bunched in your armpit and keep shoulder ergonomics in consideration for next time!
posted by platypus of the universe at 2:18 PM on October 27, 2017 [1 favorite]


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