If your plans for the weekend include getting some exercise with your Nintendo Wii, be careful–someone could get hurt! What started as a purely fun game system has evolved into an entertaining way to improve general fitness. That’s a good thing. But as my mom used to say, everything is fun until someone gets hurt.
This week’s New England Journal of Medicine (February 4, 2010) contains a brief correspondence that describes a foot fracture in a 14-year-old girl who fell while using the Wii Fit balance board.
This isn’t the only episode of gaming pain. Doctors have started using the term “Wii-itis” to describe the strains and tendon injuries caused by over-using Wii games…and there have been head injuries from being accidentally hit by Wii remote controls during play.
Although the balance board is a cool new feature, it certainly could pose a falling danger. I predict there will be more reports like this coming up. I’ll be watching.