Tennis Elbow? It May Actually be iPhone Elbow
Posted on Jul 27th 2015
Don’t be alarmed, but there’s a particular activity that may be the cause of your arm and elbow discomfort and you didn’t even know. Lateral Epicondylitis, popularly known as "tennis elbow" is a condition that occurs when you repetitively grip something while keeping the elbow bent and the wrist extended.
According to Heidi Chichester, a physical therapist out of Georgia, tennis elbow has found its way into the wireless industry. Apparently, the “tennis” actions of repetitive gripping and elbow bending is the direct equivalent to holding and operating smartphones which has lead some to now dub the condition “iPhone elbow.”
We are not making this up. Just ask Matt Bonner, forward for the San Antonio Spurs. He told the Concord Monitor this month that he developed tennis elbow so severe that it significantly reduced his stats for months after purchasing the larger iPhone 6 Plus.
“When the new iPhone came out it was way bigger than the last one, and I think because I got that new phone it was a strain to use it,” he said. “You have to stretch further to hit the buttons, and I honestly think that’s how I ended up developing it.”
We wish Matt a full and speedy recovery. If you are suffering from “iPhone Elbow” or are as stunned as we are that this is considered real, please consult your local physical therapist.
In the meantime, we’ve found other activities that may require similar physical therapy:
- Tightly gripping the steering wheel while sitting in LA traffic
- Re-taking “selfies” at the weekly company outing due to bad lighting
- Constantly adjusting of your Bluetooth headset as you walk into a dead zone during a sales call
- Repeated hammering down of both fists onto the dysfunctional copy machine because it’s just a constant disappointment