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Hi. I have always had hand/wrist pain while playing SC2. Every couple months I will come back to it but within a week or two I have to go on another extended break. I started playing again about a week ago after not playing for ~2 months. I have been wearing wrist braces at night, have elevated my chair, and stretch my hands 3 times throughout the day. It just doesn't seem to work.
The symptoms vary and can be in either hand:
-Pain in my fingers usually happens in both hands, but on the pinky side and sporadically.
-My wrists also frequently have pain/numbness, but like with my fingers, it comes and goes. Numbness occasionally goes down my whole arm to my elbows from my wrists.
-However, the most consistent problem is numbness/weakness in my right (mouse) palm. My index and thumb finger seem to be the center of the condition, there is some muscle/tendon/? that runs from my index finger into my palm that seems swollen and I can feel numbness running down the back of my arm from my thumb/index finger on my right hand.
It is extremely frustrating and every time I begin playing seriously and try to get into Top 8 Masters I get rebuffed by the pain/numbness. I know the usual suggestion is to go the doctor, but I am in my senior year of high school and my parents don't have the greatest health insurance. We could go if I needed to for something, but if I am having hand problems from a videogame the solution is 100% to stop playing the game in their mind. I have brought it up before :D
I know you guys aren't doctors, but if anybody has had something similar and worked it out I would love to hear. Don't know where to go for advice. Thank you.
 
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Don't know where to go for advice
A doctor. People can tell you some anecdotal stuff, but at best they're just going to reinforce what you already know; something is wrong.
Other than that take more breaks and possibly provide other information about your computer use habits. I, for example, switched my mousing hand from left to right while at work so my day is split between which hand is using the mouse (home is still right handed). I'm left handed/practically ambi-dexterous so it was easy, your milage may vary, but office work doesn't require gosu mouse skills. It helped to lessen the strain on me a bit, but I only had minor discomfort at worst.
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On May 11 2012 06:32 LaM wrote: know the usual suggestion is to go the doctor, but I am in my senior year of high school and my parents don't have the greatest health insurance. We could go if I needed to for something, but if I am having hand problems from a videogame the solution is 100% to stop playing the game in their mind. I have brought it up before :D
On May 11 2012 06:38 Logo wrote:
A doctor. People can tell you some anecdotal stuff, but at best they're just going to reinforce what you already know; something is wrong.
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How do you hold your mouse?
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Doesn't really change the situation at all though. If you can't go to a doctor and figure out what's wrong then doing anything that might ruin your wrist is a terrible idea. At the very least you probably want to limit yourself to a very moderate amount of playing.
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Hate to say it, but usually the only way to avoid pain like this is to stop doing whatever causes it ----> playing sc2. You can stretch, have good posture, do yoga, get acupuncture, see a doctor, get physical therapy.... but it won't really do shit.
Speaking as someone who deals with this and works with many others who deal with it. Computers + hands = ow.
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On May 11 2012 06:47 PH wrote:
How do you hold your mouse?
Thumb on the left, index on mb1, middle finger on mb2, two other fingers on the right side with the pinky on the desk. My hand is angled upwards with the fleshy part at the bottom of my hand on the edge of the desk. My arm is still below the desk angled up even with the higher chair. I grip the mouse pretty far back (aka, grip it closer to me than I do towards the screen), my hand isn't really on top of the mouse as it is angled off it/curved on the back of the mouse.
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On May 11 2012 06:51 LaM wrote:Thumb on the left, index on mb1, middle finger on mb2, two other fingers on the right side with the pinky on the desk. My hand is angled upwards with the fleshy part at the bottom of my hand on the edge of the desk. My arm is still below the desk angled up even with the higher chair. I grip the mouse pretty far back (aka, grip it closer to me than I do towards the screen), my hand isn't really on top of the mouse as it is angled off it/curved on the back of the mouse.
doesn't sound very comfortable >.<
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On May 11 2012 06:49 rogzardo wrote:
Hate to say it, but usually the only way to avoid pain like this is to stop doing whatever causes it ----> playing sc2. You can stretch, have good posture, do yoga, get acupuncture, see a doctor, get physical therapy.... but it won't really do shit.
This is not true at all. Depending on what you have and what stage the condition is in, you can improve it by taking care of it (which of course should be based on the problems source)
However, only a doctor can tell for sure what it is. So the best advice to give over the internet is to watch your posture very carefully, try to keep both wrists straight, and reduce other activities on the pc (only play sc2 when using the pc)
Mabye this video can help as well: link
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On May 11 2012 06:51 LaM wrote:Thumb on the left, index on mb1, middle finger on mb2, two other fingers on the right side with the pinky on the desk. My hand is angled upwards with the fleshy part at the bottom of my hand on the edge of the desk. My arm is still below the desk angled up even with the higher chair. I grip the mouse pretty far back (aka, grip it closer to me than I do towards the screen), my hand isn't really on top of the mouse as it is angled off it/curved on the back of the mouse.
I would hiiiighly recommend figuring something out so your arm isn't angled up to reach your mouse.
Also, I'm not entirely sure from your description, but does the back of your hand contact your mouse? Or is it just your fingers? How do your fingers click the mouse buttons? Do you press down with the tips of your fingers like you would a piano?
The claw grip (largely fingers only touching the mouse) will work wonders for you, I think, if you're not using it already. Hitting the buttons with the tips of your fingers will also improve your discomfort by quite a bit.
Also, in general, try to make a conscious effort not to tense up your arm and hand too much while playing. Try to very easily click the buttons, and don't grip the mouse too hard. That should help at least a little bit. It's tough to do while playing games, but yeah.
If you need more than this rudimentary advice, then you really should go to a doctor. :x
Hope this helps.
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You have 2 options, go to the doctors or stop playing sc2, preferably both until your hands get better.
Your right hand problems sound sort of like carpal tunnel, i have it right now in my left hand from too much typing, and the main problem is in my index finger and thumb, although my whole hand is slightly numb.
I looked at some stuff about carpal tunnel online, and i did the stretches the internet told me to for a few days. When i was done with my appointment, i was given a set of completely different stretches that I know work, so depending on what stretches you do, you can either help or hurt your hands.
tl;dr
Go to a doctor, TL is no substitute.
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Sounds like a problem that I had, best thing to do is to go and see your doctor who will tell you the best way to sort it out ^.^
For the moment though just stop playing SC2 or don't play for as long 
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This is the exact same problem I have. Carpal tunnel is a bitch...
Something I found helps a LOT is getting better peripherals.. I got a 4000DPI laser mouse and a mechanical keyboard, and that took away a lot of the strain compared to when I used to 'wrestle' with an optical mouse and a mushy membrane keyboard.. Obviously, this only helps, and will not heal anything. I still get pain if I play more than 2 hours, but it's more of a numb pain in my extremities, not the sharp wrist pain I used to have.
I also wrap my wrists with cloth (I spent over $300 on the peripherals I was talking about, but I'm too cheap to buy wrist guards... my priorities are fucked...  ) whenever my wrists -really- start to hurt, to prevent lateral movement and aggravating it...
Make sure, when you're playing, your hands are as parallel to your forearm as possible. You don't want your wrists to be at any kind of angle, sitting too high or too low will dramatically aggravate this problem. Play with your wrist braces on, if possible. This may force you to rethink and remap some hotkeys for comfort, but once you remap those and find a basic way to play without moving your wrists laterally too much, you'll be able to play without wrist guards again and it should be al ot better...
Obviously all this advice is sidelined by the fact that you should ABSOLUTELY see a doctor as well...
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Get evaluated by a doctor. I have problems with my cubital tunnel and caught it early. With stretches, breaks, and better arm/hand/wrist posture I can play pretty much like I used to. However if I had waited longer it would have gotten much worse and I'd not be able to perform like I can now.
Earlier is better, talk to a doctor(s).
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if you are not going to goto a doctor, i suggest you stop playing and start performing stretches and stengthening exercises. the numbness is a bad sign related to carpal tunnel. I deal with it every day because i was too stupid to listen to what my body was telling me. Shitty part is i cannot make a decent living without using a computer...
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EPT
