Rise Of The Selfie Wrist Ailment

Taking too many selfies could leave you with a painful nerve condition, a California doctor is warning. The digital age’s latest hazard has been dubbed ‘selfie wrist’, a numbing and tingling sensation experienced in the wrist and fingers, reports Daily Mail.

Dr Levi Harrison, an orthopaedic surgeon based in San Francisco said he is seeing a rise in patients with the condition, which he describes as a form of carpal tunnel syndrome.
 
Even Kim Kardashian revealed this September that her doctors had diagnosed her with ‘selfie wrist’.

Dr Harrison says that as photo-editing technologies and apps become more accessible, the number of cases will increase, particularly among young women and teenage girls, who are the targets of these products.

‘It’s a form of carpal tunnel,’ Dr Harrison told KABC. ‘What happens is the nerve becomes inflamed and angry.’

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the median nerve becomes pressed or squeezed, creating a burning, tingling or numbness.

The median nerve spans from the forearm to the palm of the hand – and runs through a narrow passage in the wrist known as the carpal tunnel.

Dr Harrison said hyper-flexing the wrist inwards can cause a tingling sensation or even a sharp pain.

Kim Kardashian, who published an entire book of selfies, revealed in a June interview with ITV’s This Morning that she wasn’t taking them anymore because she ‘doesn’t really like them’.
 
But on a September episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the 38-year-old reality star admitted her doctors ordered her to stop taking them because she had developed carpal tunnel syndrome.

However, unlike Dr Harrison, Kardashian’s doctors said her ‘selfie wrist’ was from holding her cellphone for too long without moving.