I love the idea of Bluetooth for a cell phone, but have never gotten one myself. I have even heard great things about the Jawbone, and that was about 18 months ago, but still could never bring myself to get one. Recently I have been on the phone more, and driving for some of that. After reading an article on CNN I think I may finally get around to dropping some cash on one for the sake of my elbow and my driving safety. 
According to the article, there is a trend developing called “Cell phone elbow” which is basically nerve damage in the elbow after keeping one’s elbow bent for long periods of time while talking on the phone. I can attest to this as far as the uncomfortable feeling I get in my elbow when talking that results in me needing to switch arms.
“When cell phone users hold the phone to their ears, they stretch a nerve that extends underneath the funny bone and controls the smallest fingers. When talkers chat for a long time in that position, it ‘chokes the blood supply to the nerves. It makes the nerves short-circuit. The next thing you know, there’s tingling in the ring and small finger,’ said Dr. Peter J. Evans, the director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.”
I can see the problem, and really anything that mentions choking off the blood supply has got me really worried these days. So I guess us geeks, already forced to deal with ergonomic issues regarding how we sit at our desks and use out keyboard to prevent any number of work place/home injuries, are now going to have to take a serious look at updating our usage of the cell phone to make hands free a higher priority before it is too late, as some of those mentioned in the article will note:
“Donna Malloy, 66, noticed the numbness in her hands when she spoke on her cell phone for hours.
‘Mainly when I was holding something, I noticed, Geez, they’re tingling,’ Malloy said about her ring and pinkie fingers. ‘It got progressively worse. If you walk around holding the cell phone, after a while you’re not sure you have it in the hand anymore.’
“She started dropping things in her left hand, and needlework became too difficult.
‘I thought: I’m turning old and falling apart,’ Malloy said.”
Luckily it has never gotten that bad for me, or for anyone I know (to my knowledge) so hopefully attention is being brought to this new trend early enough to catch it quicker than the carpal tunnel issues which it seemed no one heard of until it became a major issue.
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