A Chinese woman recently lost movement in her right hand after she spent an entire week vacation playing video games on her smartphone. The woman from Changsha, in Hunan province of China took a week off from work and spent all the free time playing phone on her smartphone. A video that documented her case stated that the only time she put her phone down was when she slept. A few days later, she experienced severe pain in her right hand, however, she kept playing the games until her fingers stuck in smartphone-holding position and she was unable to flex them at all. When her right hand paralyzed entirely, that was when she decided to get medical attention at a local hospital.
After examination and testing of her hand, doctors diagnosed her with tenosynovitis. It is an inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath called the synovium which surrounds the tendons. It is usually caused due to immense strain from overuse or repetitive usage of a particular joint. In this case, it was because of the woman grabbing onto her phone for several hours at a time for many days. Fortunately, the doctors were able to find a treatment for her, and she was able to regain control of her fingers.
Doctors warned her that the symptoms of tenosynovitis could vary from the scenario of the patient. They also advised people who are obsessed with their smartphones to use them less and allow their joints to relax from time to time. This case is among many strange medical cases which are related to excessive smartphone used in China recently. Another report stated that women lost vision from one eye after she kept playing on her phone for several days. There was also a case where a man experienced sudden paralysis in all his limbs after he kept staring at his phone for two days.
