php and mysql

Hi guys, I have a small problem and wonder if anyone has had the same problem. I am using MySQL and PHP for this application. I am retrieving some data from the MySQL database. I am using SELECT and then ORDER BY. I am ordering it by the content in a feild called elementID which contains numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11). But when I extract it, MySQL is ordering it like Windows Explorer orders files -- 1, 10, 11, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 -- This was cool though, I changed it to be 01, 02 ,03 ,etc and it all work. The only thing is though, I was using a php loop to extract the files and the loop could only understand the 1, 2, 3, 4 numbering system and not the 01, 02, 03 So I am a little screwed. Anybody have a working around for this. thanks scott.