Gamer claims he found a tumor in his hand thanks to the Switch's HD Rumble

Cal Jeffrey

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We told you last year about a study that showed that the Apple Watch could detect heart problems such as arrhythmia and atrial fibrillation with a high degree of accuracy. Well, now it seems the Nintendo Switch can help detect tumors.

Yes, that is a facetious statement, but interestingly enough, one man has benefited from an unadvertised side effect of the Switch’s HD Rumble feature. Chris Chalms claims that if it wasn’t for the vibration in the JoyCon controller, a tumor in his hand would have gone unnoticed for months.

HD Rumble is Nintendo’s version of Sony’s DualShock. It provides vibrational feedback in some games. The feature is not used in too many Switch titles yet but one that does use it is Mario Kart.

In a Reddit post, Chalms explained that when you pick up a coin in Mario Kart, the HD Rumble kicks in with an intense burst of vibration. Whenever this happened, it sent a shooting pain through his hand from his palm to the first joint in his index finger.

At first, he wrote the pain off as RSI (repetitive strain injury). He is a computer programmer and figured it was work-related. However, the pain increased until he could not use the Switch anymore. He has an Xbox as well and playing that caused no discomfort.

A few months after he quit playing Mario Kart, a small bruise appeared on his hand approximately where the pain had manifested. It was about this time that a friend of his got a Switch and wanted to race him, but the pain had gotten even worse and prompted him to see a doctor.

After an ultrasound and an MRI, he was told that he had a tumor in his hand. His doctor said there is only a five percent chance of it being cancerous and that it is more likely to be either “a vascular malformation or a giant cell tumor.” In any event, his doctor wants to remove it and has scheduled him for surgery which he will be undergoing on Monday.

In the meantime, Chalms is looking for suggestions for one-handed Switch games he could play during his recovery. If you know of any, shoot him a reply at his Reddit post or just hit him up with a "get well."

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Yeah I get blisters on my hands thanks to a yard rake. Seriously do these dipsh-ts think their skin is resistant to excessive rubbing. One look at his hand and I can tell he is allergic to physical work. His hand will look far worse than that before he could rake just one yard.
 
Yeah I get blisters on my hands thanks to a yard rake. Seriously do these dipsh-ts think their skin is resistant to excessive rubbing. One look at his hand and I can tell he is allergic to physical work. His hand will look far worse than that before he could rake just one yard.

Everyone's really impressed you can do unintensive manual labor and all, but this was a tumor and had nothing to do with rubbing.
 
Yeah I get blisters on my hands thanks to a yard rake. Seriously do these dipsh-ts think their skin is resistant to excessive rubbing. One look at his hand and I can tell he is allergic to physical work. His hand will look far worse than that before he could rake just one yard.
Back in my day... grumble, grumble... 15 miles... grumble, grumble... in the snow!
 
Back in my day... grumble, grumble... 15 miles... grumble, grumble... in the snow!
If I was doing that I would post a picture of my hand of which I have two fingers I can't straighten. My point is if you use your hand you will get signs, just like people that sit on their *** all day.
 
Yeah I get blisters on my hands thanks to a yard rake. Seriously do these dipsh-ts think their skin is resistant to excessive rubbing. One look at his hand and I can tell he is allergic to physical work. His hand will look far worse than that before he could rake just one yard.
Let's rant on the guy for having soft hands because you have to do intensive manual labour.... yes.... much to the topic point.
 
Laugh all you want. I can tell you the rumble pack didn't do the damage. He probably got pissed off one day his game diidn't go as planned and slammed down his controller. That damage is caused by massive shock not no measly controller vibration.
 
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