A Chinese teenager experienced indescribable horror when he woke up one day completely numb from the neck down due to a habit that is becoming increasingly common, especially among young people.

Like many youths his age, Xiao Dong, a 19-year-old third-year student at Quanzhou University in Fujian Province, China, spent long hours looking at his phone. However, this summer, the consequences of his daily habit became life-threatening.

After taking a summer job washing dishes and wiping tables with his head bent forward for hours continuously, the pressure on the blood vessels near his spine became unbearable, especially as he spent most of his free time looking at his phone, playing video games, and browsing social media platforms.

Initially, Dong began to feel numbness in his neck, arms, and legs, according to the “Oddity” website, but on July 30, he woke up completely numb in his legs and unable to move. Xiao was rushed to the emergency room, where doctors discovered a large blood clot in the cervical spine at vertebrae C4-T1, compressing the spinal cord and causing near-total paralysis from the chest down.

Doctors told him that the continuous bending of his head for long periods caused a rupture of an abnormal blood vessel in the spinal canal, leading to a hematoma that caused severe paralysis.

Fortunately, the young man underwent emergency surgery to remove the blood clot and prevent permanent paralysis. Xiao Dong is currently regaining control of his lower limbs but is expected to make a full recovery.

Medical experts warn that prolonged head bending leads to stagnant blood circulation, causing veins to swell and dilate abnormally. When blood is not effectively drained, symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and prolonged fatigue occur, accompanied by numbness in the shoulders, neck, and arms. In extreme cases, chronic congestion can affect the structure of blood vessels and the central nervous system, leading to severe consequences such as cerebral infarction or hemiplegia.