An iPod won’t attract lightning, but it will make your injuries worse if you are struck by it, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. A 35 year-old man was brought into the emergency room after having been struck by lightning that had jumped to his body after striking a tree, a phenomenon known as “side flash.”

His jaw was broken and both ear drums punctured. He suffered burns along both sides of his neck “corresponding to the positions of his earphones at the time of the lightning strike.” He also suffered a rare injury to the bones inside his ears that lead the doctors to conclude that the “the combination of sweat and metal earphones directed the current to, and through, the patient’s head.” Lovely.

So if you’re jogging and it looks stormy, you might want to consider taking your iPod off or “dislocation of the incudomalleolar joint” could happen to you.

Thunderstorms and iPods — Not a Good iDea [New England Journal of Medicine]

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