Playing mobile games excessively can lead to injury as shown by a medical case study published by JAMA. The 29-year old man played Candy Crush Saga daily for 6-8 weeks. The patient suffered chronic left thumb pain even though he was right handed. The man used his right hand to do most of his everyday things while he used his left hand to play the game.
The patient ended up with some ruptured tendons and required surgery. The damaged tendon is the one that allows you to extend the index finger. The report indicates that the man was not addicted to Candy Crush. Since leaving the military, he was playing the game to pass the time between his many jobs.
According to the report from JAMA, the patient did not feel any pain while he was playing Candy Crush. A co-author of the case study, Dr. Andrew Doan, said that it could be possible that brain stimulation from games may act like digital painkillers: "We need to be aware that certain video games can act like digital painkillers. We have to be very cognizant that that can be abused."