We’ve all been there, You are a few hours into gaming session with some buddies, you just finished that raid in World of Warcraft, or just won another round of Counter Strike. Then all of a sudden you go to move your mouse and all you feel is a sharp pain in your wrist. You probably think nothing of it and say “I’ll be fine, I just need to suck it up.” Well my friend, that is the wrong answer.
There are many important factors into why your wrist might start hurting and easy ways to fix them. One thing is your posture. Fixing your posture is the easiest thing to fix and to help with pains you might have. Sit up straight, and make sure you are in a comfortable position. Another thing is your chair height compared to your desk. This is something many people over look and will not give a second thought too. When it comes to your chair height you have to find a spot that is comfortable for you whether its a little lower than the desk or higher than the desk, its a personal preference that you have to find for yourself.
Another thing people forget about is making sure your hands are warm. If you are like me and enjoy watching pro players play, you will notice that 99 out of 100 times they are using hand warmers. This is two reasons they do this, one make sure there hands are not cold has it can effect performance and two, to prevent injury. When your hands get cold its easier for the muscles you have to cramp up. A few ways to prevent your hands from getting cold is one, make sure the temperature in your room is set to a proper temperature. Second, don;t be afraid to buy and use hand warmers. I personally do this because its easier and I also play many games competitively with teams and it makes it so I do not have to worry about my hands getting cold.
Lets talk about the final thing that everyone knows about, carpal tunnel syndrome. Before we really get into how to prevent and/or treat it. Make sure you know the symptoms. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome are: hand numbness, sensation of pins and needles, hand clumsiness, hand pain at night, hand weakness, or wrist weakness. If you guys and gals ever feel this please, immediately stop playing and give your wrist a rest. There are few easy ways to self treat or prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. One is stretches. If you look up Dr. Levi wrist stretches he specifically has videos about preventing carpal tunnel syndrome. I highly suggest looking them up as they are only a minute long and are great stretches to help. Another way to help is if you ever feel like you might have the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, stop gaming and ice your wrist area. Then there is the ever famous copper infused wrist sleeve. I have never personally used these, but a lot of people have. They do help and can come pretty cheap.
So remember guys, while gaming can be fun and a way to escape, it is important to make sure you take care of yourself before anything else. Take that break, do those stretches. Give yourself 10 minutes and then work on Death matching in Counter Strike, grinding World of Warcraft, or getting yourself another sweet winner winner chicken dinner.
