According to the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, one 29-year-old man played so much Candy Crush he actually ruptured a tendon in his thumb.
Candy Crush, my friends, can be a serious business.
Rupturing a tendon playing a video game — how does one do that? Well, in this man’s case it a problem of sheer volume, and next to no rest. Apparently the man had been playing non-stop for a period of up to two months. There are no real precise details on how intensely and how consistently he was playing, but apparently, the game was “constantly on”, normally as a secondary thing, but the man was constantly swiping.
The crazy thing: the man continued to play even after the tendon in his thumb had been damaged. According to the report, the process of playing Candy Crush may have had pain-killing effects that numbed the players to the damage. The man was playing and he didn’t really feel any pain. Apparently the effect is similar to a runner’s high.
Which seems insane, but researchers are taking this seriously. As per the journal report:
Although this is only a single case report, research might consider whether video games have a role in clinical pain management and as nonpharmacologic alternatives during uncomfortable or painful medical procedures.
Maybe I’ll bring my PS Vita the next time I head to the Dentists.
Comments
9 responses to “Playing Candy Crush Can Be Seriously Hazardous To Your Health”
I call complete shenanigans.
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2015/04/guy-injures-himself-playingcandy-crush/
I’ll just leave this here…
Level 850 here and thankfully I’m still uninjured from this dangerous game. Better have my will updated just in case.
How long did it take you to get to that level? The reason I ask is, my wife is around that level and keeps telling *me* off for playing too many games, but won’t tell me how much she plays.
Depending on her level, I think you will be able to tell her off now 😉
Candy Crush is made up of worlds which consists of about 15 levels each.
That means I’ve finished 56 worlds.
Each world takes me on average a week to complete and i only play on weekdays.
On average i might play it for around 1-2 hours (3 times a day) during the daily commute and various breaks. This depends on how difficult the particular level is.
Once I finish a world I then wait three days for the next one to unlock.
To date, I haven’t spent a cent on the game and only have two worlds remaining.
Hope that helps? 🙂
Heh, thanks. I don’t think she’s spent money one it, but that is not the only game she plays either. Also Pet Rescue Saga and RummiPlus. I think she would play about as many hours a day as you, as a guess. I don’t have a problem with it, but it rankles when she tells me off for playing games for around 1 hour in the morning and 2-3 hours at night.
Her argument is probably going to be less about how much you play vs her, and more about when. i.e. she probably plays while performing her daily commute, or on lunch breaks etc. where she wouldn’t normally do anything productive anyway, while you are probably playing in morning and afternoon when she considers you ‘should’ be doing chores, spending time with/the kids, etc.
Not that I’m saying she’s right and you should stop playing so much, and I do see how hypocritical it must feel for her to say you play games too much; just preparing you for her likely response if you end up having that discussion 😛
Actually she doesn’t work except for the odd evening or afternoon shift, and so has most of the day while the kids are at pre-school/school and then all night when they go to bed. I think she’s addicted, like I was with Starcraft and Civilization when I was at uni, and that she’s being defensive by commenting on my gaming, but I also am not sure how to encourage her to break it since it is pretty innocuous (she’s still doing more or less the stuff that she has to do) and inexpensive. I think, from experience, the motivation to beat an addiction has to come from within.
Lets just say “a lot….”. I have to admit to an unhealthy addiction to this too…. up to 790 now – I would probably play my 5 lives maybe twice a day, which I have probably done for a year and a half or so. Once you go over 500 you dont clear many levels per day (unless its a really lucky day… you might get 5 to 10 then). It is a simple system with a high difficulty degree that can be left at any point…. quick sanity / insanity break…..