Here’s How Selfies Are Actually Affecting Your Health
Ah, the selfie — America’s favorite pastime. As with most things, the art of selfie-taking has both its pros (we LOVE seeing celebs like Ashley Tisdale use it as a confidence-booster while going makeup-free) and cons (turns out, all those gratuitous duck face shots may actually mean you’re vain AF).
There’s yet another con to add to the list now, and this one isn’t a matter of opinion. According to Hoda Kotb of TODAY’s Kathie Lee & Hoda, who recently visited the doc with complaints of an achy elbow, the culprit wasn’t tennis or ping-pong as her orthopedist had expected, but, you guessed it: good ‘ole selfies.
“When you take the picture, your arm is up, bent in a weird way and you just click click click!” she explained on-air. “Think about how many you take: 20, 30 or 40. Selfie elbow, everybody has it!” she proclaimed.
Luckily, all hope is not lost. For starters, there’s the oh-so-helpful selfie stick (a Godsend, really), or even selfie shoes!
Then, there’s the practical recommended treatments of Ibuprofen, ice and stretching. You can also take care to switch your arm from time to time, as one doctor suggested to Cosmopolitan.
Hoda, for one, has let go of the wheel by letting others take her photos for her when her elbow isn’t feeling so hot (which, is that really even a selfie at all)?
The horror! *wink emoji*
(h/t Cosmopolitan, photos via Joern Pollex and Matthew Eisman/Getty)