As I reported before, board and card games have been known to cause seizures. But are board games also a factor in physical injuries?

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the answer is yes. Based on reports to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), there were an estimated 28,000 game-related hospital emergency room visits between 2012-2016. Another 38,000 visits were specifically associated with marbles.

About half the patients were children under 10 years of age. And in approximately 10 percent of cases, the patients were admitted following initial treatment.

The most common types of injuries involved:

  • Infants and toddlers swallowing game pieces.
  • Stepping or slipping on game pieces left on the floor.
  • Dealing playing cards or rolling dice that end up hitting people in the eye.
  • Wrist sprains from slapping cards down on the table.
  • Games that fall off the shelf and hit people in the head.
  • Dizziness and back pain from sitting too long.
  • Numbness, bursitis, or pain in the arms, neck, and shoulders from long hours of playing and dealing cards.
  • Falling off one’s chair.

However, some of the more unusual reports include:

  • “11 year old female slipped on a playing card and slid down 20 stairs on butt”
  • “2 year old female with a plastic bone in nose from the game Operation”
  • “3 year old female was choking; swallowed one of the little plastic balls that the Hippos eat”
  • “8 year old male fell onto Jenga game blocks and hit his mouth; there was damage to hardwood floor”
  • “16 year old female; patient was home playing <REDACTED>; hit nose onto boyfriend’s knee; diagnosis nasal trauma with [nose bleed]”
  • “Foreign body pubic region; 36 year old male embedded domino in penis ‘to please the ladies'”
  • “45 year old white female at home having rough sex and playing naked <REDACTED>; partner’s knee hit patient’s elbow; diagnosis elbow dislocation”
  • “42 year old male, 1 year ago carved down piece of domino, incised penis, inserted domino piece into penis; now wants it removed”
  • “42 year old male hit in head with Jenga block playing and now has closed head injury”
  • “19 year old male complaining of shoulder pain after doing extreme motions playing Charades at home tonight; diagnosis dislocation right shoulder”
  • “51 year old male with abrasions to scrotum; notes was sitting down playing cards for hours”
  • “32 year old male playing a game and jumped up hitting light fixture to head; diagnosis lacerated scalp”
  • “13 year old female was dancing on a table when she slipped on a board game and fell and injured her right foot”