I know, I know, this is a health blog and all but it also chronicles my life, especially what I’ve learned.

And over the weekend, I learned something VERY useful that needs to be shared.

Background info…

I was in New York City for the weekend visiting one of my best friends. We did a lot of shopping, eating, and partying. I also managed to drop my month-old iPhone4 into the toilet. And yes, I was completely sober.

It was embarrassing. I don’t have very good luck with phones. I’ve dropped mine in soup before (don’t ask), I’ve drowned one in alcohol, had one stolen from me in Thailand, dropped and cracked the screen, and lost one.

When I upgraded, I was determined to take super good care of the new iPhone4.

After all, it was $200. Lo and behold, barely a month later and it ended up in the toilet. Drowned. Dead.

I was devastated. What to do? Turn to my best friend Google.

I looked up how to fix a water-damaged iPhone and the consensus seems to be to leave the phone off since it is not the water that actually does the damage but the electricity combined with the water that causes the short-circuiting.

After leaving the phone off, there is the problem of drying out the phone.

iPhones do not open easily, like other phones, so you can’t separate the pieces. However, you CAN do one very, amazing thing.

Put it into a bag of rice.

Rice grains soak up water and moisture very effectively. After leaving my seemingly dead iPhone in a gigantic bag of rice for 3 days, I plugged it back into the USB port on my computer and magically, the low battery image appeared.

I screamed at the top of my lungs. I thought I would have to get a new phone. I was tempted to go without a phone until the end of December.

But a bag of rice saved my life. My phone is working just fine now. No contacts lost. Speed is still there. Battery power seems to be efficient. Sigh of relief.

HOW TO SAVE YOUR SEEMINGLY DROWNED iPHONE
1. Turn it off immediately.
2. Do not plug it into a power source.
3. Do not turn it on while it is wet.
4. Leave it emerged in a bag of rice for at least 2 to 3 days.
5. SAVED!

And that’s my little tip to share with you today. I hope you never experience a drowned iPhone because it is a disheartening, devastating experience. But, remember, there are definitely ways to go about solving your problems. For cheap too!

Have you ever dropped your phone in the toilet?

Share your horror mobile phone stories!