BlackBerry users from days of yore may remember the condition that was
jokingly dubbed BlackBerry thumb— that is, a repetitive strain injury
caused by tapping the device's buttons over and over again for long
periods of time. Well, that condition can develop from any repetitive
thumb use, and as this story reveals, one modern candidate may be the
smartphone game Candy Crush Saga. Addiction to the free-to-play Candy
Crush games isn't new, but this California man's playing was so
excessive, he didn't even notice the pain leading up to a thumb tendon
rupture.
The un-named 29-year-old admitted to playing Candy Crush Saga on his
phone all day every day for nearly eight weeks straight. He only used
his left hand to carry out his non-stop touchscreen tapping, while
using his dominant right hand for everyday, non-Candy Crush related
tasks.
Eventually, the man became unable to move his left thumb, and only
then began to notice a constant pain in the hand. He went to a doctor,
who told him he had ruptured his left extensor pollicis (or left
thumb) tendon. But there's one more thing that makes this case so
extreme: tendon ruptures normally take place either at a tendon's
thinnest point or at a bone. A report from the JAMA Internal
Medicinemedical journal says this man's rupture took place at the
tendon's thickest point. Doctors say there should have been
increasingly high levels of pain leading up to the rupture, however
the man said he noticed no pain while playing the smartphone game.
As the BlackBerry thumb example shows, repetitive strain injuries can
be caused by anything from smartphones to video games. But what's
interesting to researchers about this case is the potential for games
to be used in pain treatment. The chemicals released by the brain
while playing games are known to be connected to pleasure and
excitement, but there's also a possibility they could be used as a
painkiller
jokingly dubbed BlackBerry thumb— that is, a repetitive strain injury
caused by tapping the device's buttons over and over again for long
periods of time. Well, that condition can develop from any repetitive
thumb use, and as this story reveals, one modern candidate may be the
smartphone game Candy Crush Saga. Addiction to the free-to-play Candy
Crush games isn't new, but this California man's playing was so
excessive, he didn't even notice the pain leading up to a thumb tendon
rupture.
The un-named 29-year-old admitted to playing Candy Crush Saga on his
phone all day every day for nearly eight weeks straight. He only used
his left hand to carry out his non-stop touchscreen tapping, while
using his dominant right hand for everyday, non-Candy Crush related
tasks.
Eventually, the man became unable to move his left thumb, and only
then began to notice a constant pain in the hand. He went to a doctor,
who told him he had ruptured his left extensor pollicis (or left
thumb) tendon. But there's one more thing that makes this case so
extreme: tendon ruptures normally take place either at a tendon's
thinnest point or at a bone. A report from the JAMA Internal
Medicinemedical journal says this man's rupture took place at the
tendon's thickest point. Doctors say there should have been
increasingly high levels of pain leading up to the rupture, however
the man said he noticed no pain while playing the smartphone game.
As the BlackBerry thumb example shows, repetitive strain injuries can
be caused by anything from smartphones to video games. But what's
interesting to researchers about this case is the potential for games
to be used in pain treatment. The chemicals released by the brain
while playing games are known to be connected to pleasure and
excitement, but there's also a possibility they could be used as a
painkiller
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