EL PASO, Texas -- According to doctors across the country, more and more patients are coming in with cell phone elbow, a condition resulting after extended time holding an elbow tightly bent.

"I usually talk to friends, and what we're going to do," said Edmundo Avilas, of West El Paso.

Avilas admits he talks a lot on his cell phone, an estimated 4,000 minutes per month.

But with all the talking, Avilas may be doing irreparable damage to his arm and elbow, by having it bent for so long.

"After an hour or two my arm is like, ‘What the heck?’ It's numb and I can't feel it," Avilas said.

That numbness and tingling are symptoms of cell phone elbow.

Dr. Everett Campbell is an orthopedic surgeon, and he treats patients with cell phone elbow, also known as cubital tunnel syndrome.

"What you're specifically talking about is people who are getting some sort of clinical problem as a result of a kind of pressure on their elbow flexed tight and holding a cell phone by their ear," Campbell said.

Campbell explained that keeping an elbow tight and bent puts pressure on the ulna nerve, smashing it and causing further damage by leaning on it.

"They may have some pain, or it may be just a funny feeling, or it may be just a sense of numbness," Campbell said.

Those symptoms can be serious if you ignore them. Holding and squeezing an elbow can cause scar tissue to develop, Campbell said.

"In the worst-case situation, it actually requires surgical release," Campbell said.

For Avilas, from now on he's going to think before he talks, he said.

"I probably won't lean on my elbow, you know, just avoid the numbness and the tinglyness in the fingers," Avilas said.

In order to avoid any nerve damage, Campbell recommends switching hands while talking on the phone and to avoid leaning on your elbow for extended periods.