At any rate. I never had wrist problems playing games, but on extensive typing sessions my right hand would absolutely kill me. I now use a mouse pad with a gel wrist pad and bought a wrist pad for my keyboard and i can honestly say i dont get those wrists pains anymore while i do extensive typing. Sure if i go REALLY long it will kinda act up. But between the pad and the stretches i do its almost non-existent compared to how it was. I urgently advise you to at least try getting wrist pads for mouse/keyboard.
At the very least it will help somewhat. Getting the wrist pad on my keyboard made it more comfortable to have the back stands up on the keyboard if you dont do that already. Just a note. But yea, go see a doctor if it is super severe and no home remedy's work. No use in disabling your hand over a video game. GL
First, see a doctor to make sure it's not serious. You might have to take a break to let it heal.
I had a gaming related injury once, but fortunately I was already seeing a physical therapist for my skiing injury (ergo all the gaming). Mine was in a tendon that ran down the top part of my forearm, and the solution (on top of icing and ibuprofen) was to spend some time with a light dumbbell (like maybe 2-5lbs) and hold my arm out straight, and then just lift the dumbbell up and down with only wrist motion, to strengthen those muscles. It worked wonders; with a little stretching, I recovered within a couple weeks, but I did have to stop playing for that time.
Day9 generally recommends stretching between matches, and that's what I do. Good luck!
On September 21 2011 05:00 AC3 wrote: Take everyone's advice on stretches, set up and breaks in play time, however above all you need to GO TO THE DOCTOR. My buddy had the symptoms you are describing with similar amounts of gaming, and chose to ignore them. 6 months later his wrists hurt even more, and after getting a quick check from our friends mom (a nurse) she told him he would quickly develop carpal tunnel at his current pace. He has anti-inflammatory cream, somewhat regularly stretches now, yet still has weeks at a time where the pain is too great to play. Save yourself the time, pain, and money involved with treating wrist injuries by putting a stop to them now.
All this is so discourgaing to me. 9 months of regular and I really mean regular play and now this comes up. If I am to rest for a week It'll ruin my plan of "continuous" practice. But its not up to me cuz I cant play anymore, hell with theis pain I cant even type my english paper thats due.
You are to the point where you can't even type your English paper anymore and yet you seem to be more concerned about your plan of continuous practice being interrupted? I don't know how to say this, but some people really need to learn how to prioritize whats truly important to them better =/
I have had some wrist problems as of late too which has been affecting my play, so I somewhat understand the frustration, but you know, SC is a game for your entertainment, and there's no way it can be fun if you have to play through so much pain. So just take it easy, listen to what your doctor says, get a good break, and when it feels better you can start playing some again. Hope everything works out!
I used to get a lot of elbow pain when I played and then I switched up my desk situation so that everything is really far back toward the wall. Now my entire right forearm, elbow included, and most of my left forearm rest on the desk and it allows me to play pain-free as long as I want.
I had the same problem with my wrist. I am playing on a laptop so my hand was in a bad position. I bought a new keyboard and a new desk and my wrist is in a much better position when I play and has been pain free ever since.
You have carpal tunnel. As someone who has struggled with carpal tunnel over the last few years you absolutely need to rest your wrists for at least a week. Possibly two or three. This means no gaming or actions that cause repetitive stress.
There isn't much a doctor can do to treat carpal tunnel beyond surgery to relieve pressure to the median nerve (what Flash recently went through). There are however preventitive things you can do. These kinds kinds of exercises have really helped me deal with it. Also, you need to examine your computer set-up and make sure your wrists aren't unnaturally bent and your posture is good. TLO also suffers from carpal tunnel.
edit: don't push yourself, if you do it will only make it worse and take longer for your wrist to heal. I didn't rest my right wrist enough about ~2 years ago and it got so bad I actually couldn't grip things very strongly, I couldn't write, and my fingers tingled. I saw a doctor and they told me exactly what I have posted above. Wearing a wrist splint at night may also help. Non-steroid anti-inflammatories will reduce symptoms but won't really treat the condition.
When you get start to get the beginnings of CTS the biggest thing that helps is rest. Make sure you don't over-exert your wrists and if you absolutely have to play, play for shorter periods of time and try and use splints and and ergonomic keyboards/mice. You can use the down time to watch replays or something. It's not worth getting CTS just because you didn't exercise caution when playing. CTS impacts your day-to-day life as well, because you start to lose the fine motor skills within your fingers. Not worth it.
In terms of options beyond resting your wrists the main ones would be NSAIDs/anaesthetics or surgery. Try not to get to that stage and make sure you go see a doctor soon.
On November 04 2011 16:49 Teogamer wrote: buy a few eggs of silly putty and squeeze it throughout a day or two. I get pain in my hand every few months and this cures it completely.
On November 04 2011 16:55 hookyelyak wrote: do those mentioned stretches and go see a doctor ..i onc had cts and took vit b12(probably an otc vitamin in america ).
Don't take random stuff. Go see a doctor, CTS has nothing to do with vitamin deficit.
On September 21 2011 05:00 AC3 wrote: Take everyone's advice on stretches, set up and breaks in play time, however above all you need to GO TO THE DOCTOR. My buddy had the symptoms you are describing with similar amounts of gaming, and chose to ignore them. 6 months later his wrists hurt even more, and after getting a quick check from our friends mom (a nurse) she told him he would quickly develop carpal tunnel at his current pace. He has anti-inflammatory cream, somewhat regularly stretches now, yet still has weeks at a time where the pain is too great to play. Save yourself the time, pain, and money involved with treating wrist injuries by putting a stop to them now.
All this is so discourgaing to me. 9 months of regular and I really mean regular play and now this comes up. If I am to rest for a week It'll ruin my plan of "continuous" practice. But its not up to me cuz I cant play anymore, hell with theis pain I cant even type my english paper thats due.
Don't fuck around with it man. REST YOUR WRISTS. You need to do this for 1-3 weeks. They will get better. Fuck practicing. Trust me, when it gets bad enough you won't even be able to pick stuff up. It makes your hand completely useless.
excercise with it 10-20 minutes every day or every few days, and you won't have any RSI related injury ever in your life- but don't start it until your injury is healed
additionally, you can buy special ergonomic keyboards and mouses that minimalize the chance of RSI, but those aren't cheap and you need to get used to them.
Ergonomics of a computer workstation is almost a complete science nowadays, too bad that e-sport related people don't really care about it at all- these keyboards and mice look strange and you need to get used to them, but they're sooooo comfortable to use, it's an entirely different experience. in truth the position of the hands and forehand is not natural while using the standard keyboard and mouse and causes constant strain in the bones and tendons.
But the powerball (or any gyro ball) is probably the best solution, and it's also fun, u can do it while watching a new episode of your favorite series etc
On September 21 2011 04:42 Thorakh wrote: Go see a doctor.
Some people here might have good advice, others will have bad advice. Others will say great things and others will make you lose your hand. At the end of the day, if you have a medical problem you should SEE A DOCTOR and not ask for help on a gaming forum
Go see a doctor.
If I want a good gaming build for a new computer, do I go to a doctor? No, I go to a gaming/tech forum. If I have wrist pain, do I go to a gaming forum? No, I go to a doctor.
I started getting the same symptoms years ago playing guildwars. For me, the main pain causing factor is repetitive motions with my ring and pinky finger. Particularly shift, ctrl, 1. I was able to live completely pain free for years playing WoW because of the hotkey system, which allowed me to almost ignore those keys. (You can hit every other key on the keyboard more efficiently with your other 3 fingers).
Unfortunatly with sc2, changing hotkeys isn't really an option and it's not efficient. I am currently experimenting with a wrist brace to improve my wrists posture. I would suggest using control groups 2-6 as your most repetitive key strokes, (army, production) and 1 for something less important if possible.
Stretching during breaks is important. I have found from my own personal experience that curling small dumbells or doing any excercise with them is probably the best. The reason I find is that they force your grip, increase blood flow because of the physical excercise (I actually shake them in a masturbating movement; lol) and stretch your tendons. This is from my personal experience, the most beneficial.
Another note on light dumbells; They make your hands feel faster after excercise, warm your body temperature if you excercise hard enough which is also good for sc2.
AVOID flexing your wrist (bending it backwards or forwards). Tylenol helps me relieve the inflammation, could help you. It also takes your mind off the pain which is invaluable in your wrists recovery.
Anywhom, gl let me know what you find, this is all the stuff I've learned about my condition so far. Just make sure you deal with it. Hotkey mapping is the #1 cure imo, but if you cant adjust them like me in sc2, learn to adapt.
Ive had wrist problems this summer ever since i shattered it at work, fell off of a ladder after it collapsed . Anyways i find that the drug store patches help that cover your wrist, soothing and helps keep you cool. if you can get past the smell of extreme mint from your hand you will be fine
EPT
