Galway hospital warns of ‘selfie wrist injuries’ after influx of cases
A team of doctors in the Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery at University College Hospital Galway are warning against the distracting nature of selfies.
In the most millennial epidemic ever, the team treated four broken wrists in a single week, with each injury being the result of taking a selfie.
A paper published in the June edition of The Irish Medical Journal warns that taking selfies pulls your focus from your surroundings and physical awareness, which can lead to accidents.
'This can lead to trauma, resulting in hospitalisation.'
'In our institution, we have noted an increase in the past number of months of selfie-related trauma.'
The paper outlines four cases, all of which involve patients injuring the non-selfie-taking wrists in accidents involving smart phone selfies.
The paper describes an incident involving a 13-year-old, who tried to take a selfie mid-jump on a trampoline, crashed into her bouncing companion and fractured two bones in her arm.
Another case described a 27-year-old sports woman, who fell while trying to take a team selfie on a flight of stairs, and fractured her wrist.
