RSI and gaming
Exercises added on a new post which can be found at Hand exercises for RSI and Carpal Tunnel, created on 6/3/2012.
This is a small guide on how to cope with RSI as a gamer. I have been playing PC and console games for pretty much all my life. Its my main hobby and passion (to the annoyance of my girlfriend) and takes up a lot of my time. About four years ago, I started to feel tiredness and pain in both my hands while playing Maplestory (I was bored, and when it first came out it was very addictive). Maplestory involved a lot of button bashing, and after 6 months I developed the starting signs of RSI.
Stupidly, I did not care about the pain. It was something that was getting in the way of my gaming. Another 6 months after the starting signs of RSI, I had full blown RSI and carpal tunnel. I had RSI specifically in my fingers. At the time, I could not find a lot of information about fingers, only hands and wrists. With the information I had gained after desperately trying to get rid of the crippling pain, I found some of my own techniques that helped me, and eventually let me do my full blown gaming sessions again.
What is RSI?
RSI is repetitive strain injury. It is formed from a repetitive movement that with overuse causes strain and fatigue. Alot of gamers suffer from RSI because of the repetitive movement of using the keyboard, controller and clicking on the mouse. More information about RSI can be found on the RSI wiki page. I have listed the best ways I have learnt to deal with RSI.
1 – Learn to stop when it hurts
Firstly and most important, you have to understand that if you continue gaming with the pain, your problem will only get worst. It will become permanent. If you manage your RSI in the early stages, you will prevent yourself from having to cope with the pain and managing how long you can use your hands before you have to stop.
Know when to stop. Once you start to feel tiredness or pain in your hands, give yourself 5 minutes to finish what your doing, and give it a rest for 20 minutes. It is very easy to prevent RSI, but coping with it is a whole different story. If your RSI becomes very chronic, then you may have to have steroid injections into your joints. If a big needle between your joints on your hands does not make you think, the im not sure what else will. Maybe consider that you might not be able to game anymore. It also effects day to day things like holding a cup and losing a lot of strength in your hands.
2 – Desktop position and posture
How you position yourself at your desk can effect your body. Humans were not designed to be sat on a desk chair for 13 hours a day, but there is way to posture yourself to make it easier on your body while you do your thing. Starting from the top;
- Your eyes should be level with the TOP of the monitor. Sit up straight, look forward, and if your eyes are not looking at the top of the monitor, then you are already sitting in a “unnatural” position.
- Relax your shoulders. Sometimes its easy to forget if you are hunching them. I was actually very bad at this, and after a week of really bad tensing and hunching, I would have the worst kind of numbing pain that would not go away. A good technique for this (and positioning in general) is the Alexander technique. Basically, know how to sit correctly, and always be conscience of changing your position. Try and take note of your shoulders, arms or legs regularly, and correct yourself when you do.
- Don’t slouch on the chair. This will help cause back problems in later life. How you position your back is generally the main key position to get right, as its easier to do everything else after you position your back correctly. Sit with your back straight. If you put your arse at the back of the chair, then its easier to maintain this posture. Dont be to stiff, because that will cause as much pain after time.
- Your elbows should be parallel with your torso, and your forearms should be horizontal with the desk and keyboard. your wrists should be straight. Try and imagine they are in a splint, and learn to type and game like this. This will go along way in keeping carpal tunnel away.
- Your legs should be bent at the knees, with your feet flat on the ground. I believe the legs are not as important as the rest of the body. I occasionally sit with one leg under the other, and put more emphasis on my arms and body. As long as you don’t stray away from this posture to much, then it is all good.
3 – 15 minutes gaming, 5 minutes rest
This technique is not good for gamers, especially MMO and online gamers. This 15 minutes work 5 minutes rest is a office procedure, but is easily adapted into gaming. Rest is key to recovering from RSI. If you don’t rest, it will only get worst. If im playing a game online, I would rest after each round. A single player game is easier to do this with. If you are coping with RSI, then this really is a necessity. If you do it right and for long enough, then you can lessen the space of time between gaming and resting.
3/11/11 update – If 15 minutes is to short, you can try 30 minutes gaming 10 minutes rest. As long as you at least rest your hands before an hour, and more rest the better.
4 – Stretching before gaming
Warming up my hands and fingers before gaming has been the best and most successful way of coping with RSI. Once your hands are prepared and ready, then you are pretty much set to go. If you have just woken up, turn on the pc or console and start gaming, then you are really not doing yourself any favors. It is just like if you sprinted without warming up. You would injure yourself pretty badly if you wasn’t ready for it. Your hands are the same. All you need to do is stretch your fingers out as far as you can for about 10 seconds. Open your hand as far as you can, and then bend your fingers in towards your palm, and then back to the stretch. Do this 3 times, and your done. Any shaking of your hands is beneficial after the stretch. I will try and put a video of this up when i get a decent camera.
5 – Supplements
Supplements are not the do all end all for RSI, but I believe it can help with recovering. Only three types of supplements need listing. They are;
- Vitamin C – Vitamin C helps (in regards to RSI) with the body being able to rebuild itself. A good dose of Vitamin C (1000mg dose 3 times a day) is a good start. There are a lot of articles on vitamin C, and I would recommend you google them. (Nothing can replace veggies. If you can stomach a plate of vegetables then this trumps a soluble vitamin C tablet by x 1000).
- Fish Oil – Fish oil also helps with recovery, and also works by lubricating the joints, making your joints work longer before fatigue sets in. It acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory which over time will reduce pain in the hands. 1000mg capsules once a day is good. Apart from helping the joints, It will keep you generally healthy. You can buy the oil without the capsule which is super concentrated, but also much more expensive.
6 – Ice and heat packs
In some pharmacies you can buy a ice/heat pack. A reusable pack that you can put in the fridge, or put in hot water to heat it up. Having two of these and sandwich them between your hand is extremely nice. A good idea is to alternate between hot and cold (cold one day, hot another). If you can only do one, then it is still miles better then nothing. This helps your hand deal with the inflammation (the pain from RSI) and can give a lot of relief.
Summary
In a nutshell, you need to rest your hands. If you continue to game with fatigue, then you will pay a serious price of permanent damage to your hands. Just with resting along will help keep you from developing RSI. Everything covered above is just to cope with it if you have it. If you do not have RSI, then still do all of the above, and you can prevent it from accruing.
Any feedback for this article will be very appreciated. If you are a gamer and are beginning to develop RSI, or if you have any suggestions about gaming with RSI, let me know and leave a comment here.
Kai Honsou.
A great comment from James, submitted on 12/3/2012.
hey.
fellow sufferer here. im 24 and played games solidly from the age of 7 to 21. by the time i was 16 i was on xbox live 12 hours a day for a few years. the pain continually got more intense, so much so that now i cant even play on an xbox for 10 minutes without a pain shooting up from both my thumb and my trigger fingers…it goes all the way up to my shoulder. the interesting thing is…it got me out the house and im now a professional breakdancer…so theres a real difference between this soft muscle and the hard muscle. i feel little to no pain when im jumping on one hand..but put a keyboard infront of me and ill type in a weird way to avoid pain….its started to affect me more now im doing a masters degree and have to use the computer 10 hours a day. what more interesting is my diet is amazing, all fresh no cookies cakes chocolate, i take glucosamine (check it out, its good for repair), fish oils,and vitamin b. living with RSI is tough and when i go to the specialist (free treatment in the uk) im gonna see whats up. the worst thing to do is take an anti inflammatory and push on, as you know the next day…its gonna hurt twice as much. keep trying guys!
Top comment from Emily! Thanks for the comment! 29/1/2012
I am a nurse and would recommend that if people continue to have issues after months of TRUE rest (ie not 1 week off 3 weeks 6 hrs on) then go to your primary doctor and request a referral to an orthopedic doc. They are equipped with the tests and knowledge to (usually) specifically diagnose ones issues. Figuring out exactly what type of RSI you have will help to pinpoint a course of treatment. Someone with CTS shouldn’t won’t have the same treatment as someone with an obstructive ganglion cyst!
Finally: you can refuse ANY treatment. Do not fail to go to the doc because you are afraid of injections! They cannot do anything without your concent. Getting the advice of a doctor who is an expert in bones, tendons, ligaments, joints and how they work together is the type of advocate anyone with RSI should have on their team.
Thanks, Honsou for getting the word out, your therapies may be helping loads of people who refuse to go to the doc self treat enough to hopefully prevent a load of gamer cripples!
Hi, great blog post.
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hi mate, I am new to gaming and have hot hooked on online Call of duty Modern warfare 2… I have racked up 14 days gameplay in about 3-4 months sometimes have 6 hour or longer sessions and then more later that day.
Yesterday and today I started to get pain in my wrists?
Is RSI permanent and is that it am I doomed to always have RSI?
Thanks mate
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Honsou Reply:
August 18th, 2010 at 4:41 PM
RSI in your hands is kinda permanent. You can treat it and it will go away, but will always flare up every now and then, and your hands are much more frail from continuous gaming. My RSI is no longer painful, but I get the start of the fatigue after around 3 hours of gaming. Something that requires me to click alot (Minecraft for example) will lower that time to around 30 minutes. If I carry on, it becomes painful. If I had treated it sooner I would more time to game before it starts to get painful.
Pain in your wrists might be Carpal Tunnel. If your just getting signs of it now then its treatable and will go away. Some prevention techniques will stop it from coming back. Having a minute rest or more every 15 or 20 minutes will help too.
Before a long gaming session, you should stretch your hands and wrists. shake your wrists around, pull back with your fingers, stretch your arms out to your side with your palms facing away from you, and stretch your wrists towards your head and then the other way towards your body. Its not easy to explain in writing, but you can find alot of carpal tunnel techniques online.
Remember, your hands need to warm up before gaming just like an athlete. Giving them a good stretch for 2 minutes before gaming will go along way to treating and preventing RSI and Carpal Tunnel.
Hope this helps. Most important thing is to not stop gaming
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About 2 weeks ago i have started to have constant pain in my figners (nothing major, slightly less than a tingle) and it has remained at this for the whole 2 weeks non stop, when i play games (only tried on xbox 360 controller not pc) for longer than 10 mins my fingers ache and hurt ALOT, after about 30 mins of rest it goes back to the original pain, and sometimes my wrists hurt, not majorly tho.
is this most likely RSI?. Could it be carpal tunnel?. and is it too late for me to cure this condition?. + i dont know if i could stop gaming cause its the only thing i enjoy enough to keep myself enterained, will i have to stop gaming, and if only for a short time… how long?. any answers would be REALLY appreciated. thank you
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Honsou Reply:
September 8th, 2010 at 2:11 PM
It is probably RSI, and after two weeks its not to late to treat. I know what you mean by not gaming but its something you should consider, just for a week. Even after a few days and the pain goes down, you should stretch your hands and fingers before gaming, and be strict about it. I think I explained (or tried to) how to stretch your hands in another reply above.
After 5 or 10 minutes of stretching, you should take a break every 30 minutes for 5 or 10 minutes. If your at the PC, put on a youtube clip simply let your hands relax at the sides of the chair. You can also Sandwich your hand between two hot water bottles covered in a dish towel for 15 or more minutes. It should be hot enough to help take the pain away and will help your hands recover.
If you don’t do something about this now, it will get worse and eventually permanent. Chronic RSI is sometimes treated by injecting a steroid into the joints with a long needle. Just keep that in mind and it should help you motivated
I’m on my break from work so im sorry if this may seem a bit rushed. If you feel I should elaborate on anything just let me know and ill try my best to help.
Happy gaming!
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I would be skeptical of the supplements, especially the cod liver oil, unless prescribed by a real doctor.
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Honsou Reply:
September 8th, 2010 at 1:54 PM
They can help with the inflammation in the joints and also help prevent RSI and arthritis. They are also generally good for your health. Unless you eat fish once or twice a week then you can really benefit your short and long term health. You only need one or two capsules a week. Some people take 1000mg of cod liver/flax seed oil everyday which can be overkill.
Supplements are a quarter of the solution. Taking regular breaks, resting your hands and doing simple stretches once a day is where you treat and prevent RSI and other related joint problems from gaming.
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thanks for the advice its appreciated. i went the doctors this morning. (8am, im english) and havent touched a game yet and its 3:15, im playing DS with my unnaffected hand to help a bit. the doctor said it probably is RSI and to take paracetamol for a week and see how it goes, and also said that cause i have crohns disease that could be a factor and should avoid ibuprofen. so im just gonna see how that goes. you think that will help at all? and i have been using finger, hand and wrists stretches all day
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Honsou Reply:
September 9th, 2010 at 8:31 AM
Paracetamol is mainly a pain killer and not a good anti-inflammatory. If you cant take Ibuprofen then you should try and change your diet to take more natural anti-inflammatory foods.
A fish/flax oil capsule once every two days should help. If you google natural anti inflammatory foods you will find alot of information.
I knew nothing about RSI years ago and played through the pain, and now I live with it in some degree of discomfort no matter what I do. You will be avoiding that and with the stretches, warming up and breaks you will be preventing it from becoming a problem.
Hope that helps
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I’ve been having some pretty bad pain in both my wrists (mainly my right) from console and pc gaming for 20+ years. I’m really glad I found this because some of your tips will hopefully help me a lot.
I was wondering if you managed to get that video done on the stretching/exercises yet?
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Honsou Reply:
October 19th, 2010 at 8:57 AM
I hope the article does help. Nothing worse then having RSI and being a gamer.
Life is busy at the moment and making a video on stretches is in the middle of my list of priorities. I will make one at some point, because its something you can actively do aside from just resting and taking breaks. Its also a good excuse to buy a nice video recorder =)
How bad is the pain? Is it a constant pain? does it flare up every now and then?
Kai.
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A few days ago I started having pain in my hands and wrists when playing video games on my PC. It’s mostly my right hand, and when I bend my right wrist down it pops. I also started having pain my lower arms. This pain is located about halfway down my lower arms, on the inside, and it’s only in a small spot, about a centimeter wide.
When I stop playing for a few minutes this pain goes away, but as soon as I start playing again it returns.
I will stop playing video games for at least a week now to see if the pain goes away.
There is something that I’d like to ask. A while back I’ve read about special wrist straps that support your wrists, I believe they’re called Newgrips or something similar. Do you think using these would help get rid of the pain and prevent it from coming back?
Thanks in advance.
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Honsou Reply:
November 5th, 2010 at 10:21 PM
Hey Michael,
If the pain goes away after a short rest then It would be beneficial to spend a week focusing on recovering.
I’m not sure what the pain in the middle of your arms might be, but it could be from your sitting position. I sit properly for about 20 minutes and eventually either slouch down, cross my legs or leaning forward. It takes discipline but it might help the pain in your arms.
When you sit with your back slouched down, your elbows away from your side and the soles of your feet not touching the floor, the pressure from sitting down has to go somewhere. If you don’t center your gravity then even how you position your feet can have a bad effect on your back and arms. How do you normally sit down in your chair?
As for wrist straps, I used them alot when my hands were very chronic but mainly for rehabilitation. I used to go to bed using a wrist brace to stop myself bending my wrists during the night. Hopefully your wrists are not that bad.
Your wrists should be straight when using the mouse and keyboard, so both wrists should be at an angle when typing. Also try and set your mouse’s sensitivity higher to reduce movement. It doesn’t take to long to get used to the new settings and it would really help, especially if you have to move the mouse more then a few inches to scroll across the screen.
Lastly, the popping might be the joints getting weaker at the wear and tear of gaming. It shouldn’t be a big problem and will most likely come and go.
If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I try my best to form a constructive reply but always feel I ramble on.
Happy Gaming.
Kai.
Disclaimer: I don’t think I have mentioned this before but I am not a doctor of any kind, and all of this is built from years of personal experience and research
[Reply]
Michael Reply:
November 5th, 2010 at 11:02 PM
Hey Kai,
Thanks for your quick response.
When I’m behind my computer I always try to sit as described in part 2 of this article. However, just like you said in your reply, after about 20 minutes I also start to either lean forward, or slouch down. But as soon as I notice this I always change my position so I’m sitting correctly again.
What I believe to be one of the biggest reasons of this pain is that my desk is too high, so it is impossible to have my arms horizontal when behind the computer. They are always pointed upwards at about a 15 to 20° angle, preventing my wrists to be straight when using the keyboard or mouse.
I also noticed a slight pain in the middle of the tendon from my index finger at the back of my right hand (don’t know what those are called) every time I click on the mouse.
Another thing I was wondering, is that beside from using the computer, are there other activities where there is a high risk of developing RSI? It would be pretty lame to stop using a computer for over a week to prevent RSI, just to develop it from doing something else.
Regards,
Michael
[Reply]
Michael Reply:
November 28th, 2010 at 7:10 PM
Anyone?
Honsou Reply:
December 1st, 2010 at 9:51 AM
My reply is above your original post.
Kai.
Very helpful info! I have not played on a xbox or any console for about 6 months! My brother just bought the new MK9 game though and i couldnt resist and now i regret it! MK is a typical button bash game and i have really sore hands and arms and i am not a constant gamer! Its prevented me from sleeping due to the pain. I was wondering do you think this pain will eventually go as i dont intend on playing on another game for a while like previously.
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Honsou Reply:
May 4th, 2011 at 11:30 AM
It will go if you stopped doing whatever caused the pain in the first place. I would say your hands got sore (lol?) anyway from them doing something they are not used to (lol!). If it was serious joint pain, then It would be an issue worth seeing the doctor about, since it did not take much for the pain to surface. Buy some 1000mg fish oil capsules (not cod liver oil) and take that for a week and see if it helps. Fish oil is a natural anti-inflammatory and some people have had great successes using it to treat joint pain.
Hopefully that will stop the pain.
Honsou.
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Hi there good tips on this page , OK i have had RSI for over a year , in the beginning i had pains in the hand then it would go away and come back after a few weeks , now the pain never goes away unless i rest my hands fully without playing for a week but as soon as i play my hands hurt , right now i play for 3 or 4 hours a day with pain but what i do is play for 1 hour then rest for 1 hour , but my hands hurt even after resting , the doctors are useless basically told me to quit gaming
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marc110 Reply:
August 6th, 2011 at 12:25 PM
this stop it getting worse i think
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Honsou Reply:
August 6th, 2011 at 11:13 PM
If a doctor asks you to stop gaming, slap him and tell him to stop golfing for 8 hours on the weekends.
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I am a 23 hardcore PC gamer and started to get RSI in both my wrists and arms.
It started when I began doing all night gaming sessions of TF2, which is fast paced and non stop moving with keyboard and mouse.
The feeling is like barbed wire running up my wrist to my arms into my muscles, and continued long after I finished gaming.
Stupidly I carried on doing these all nighters even with the pain believing it would always disappear.
It did not so I stopped gaming for a few weeks and the pain almost completely disappeared though I still get twinges from time to time.
Now it has come back from playing dozens hours of bad company 2 holding down the shift key to sprint with my pinkie finger is needed almost all the time in this game.
I changed the key to V and it solved the problem a little though I should not have been so lazy and should have done something as soon as I felt pain.
It has always been worse for my left arm but now has gotten a lot worse in the right as well.
This post is extremely helpful to me and I will try the supplements and stretching, I have already done some light weight lifting and wrist exercises which surprisingly helped though was made worse if I overdid it.
I also have tried console gaming out and it is a lot less stressful on my fingers as no stretching required so I’d recommend switching to a controller or handheld gaming if you can’t stop gaming like me!
I have also tried taking ibuprofin regularly though it seems to do little. Thank you for making gamers more aware of this horrifying problem and hope you all heal in time. Best wishes, Sean
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Honsou Reply:
August 10th, 2011 at 10:20 PM
Thanks for that Sean
I plan on putting up youtube clips of various stretches that can be done, and a new article about coping and dealing with RSI.
Your analogy was spot on. It does feel like barbed wire going through the hand!
Honsou.
[Reply]
Hi there kia i have had RSI for 1 and half years i play xbox 360 almost every day i take 20mins break every after every hour the doctors have told me i have RSI and to rest (8months ago ) but once i stop resting and start playing my hands hurt more and more is there anyway to play pain free without quiting for good
thanks
peter age 29
PS thanks for making a site like this there is no info online for gamer’s with RSI
[Reply]
Honsou Reply:
August 19th, 2011 at 7:16 PM
Do you warm up your hands before playing again?
Honsou.
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peter691 Reply:
August 20th, 2011 at 9:40 AM
how would i warm my hands ? thanks for the reply
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peter691 Reply:
August 20th, 2011 at 9:44 AM
i found it on the site , will give that a try , all i can play is pool without pain LOL
peter691 Reply:
August 28th, 2011 at 6:17 PM
since i have bin warming up my hands and taking longer breaks and only playing 4 hours a day my hands feel so much better thanks for your help
il like to add stopping playing button bashing games will also help
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3000 mg vitamin C per day is a whole lot and quite expensive .. Are sure it’s not 3x 500mg?
Other websites also say vitamin B is better than C, this is the only website I’ve found so far that says vit C would help, what’s your take on this?
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Honsou Reply:
September 29th, 2011 at 10:33 AM
I guess it can be expensive. Even 500g x 3 a day is more benefitical then nothing.
Regarding vitamin B, better for joints? B vitamins are more to do with how energy is used in the body, vitamin C is an immune booster and collagen builder in the joints. Google “vitamin C collagen” and you will find a wealth of information, more then what I can explain.
Thanks for the comment
Honsou.
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I’ve been suffering with RSI for a month or so now, I get pain in my wrist, fingers, palms and down the side of my hand. It’s currently 3am and I’m awake mainly due to my hands hurting and not being able to sleep. I have done everything suggested in this blog and frankly everything suggested everywhere but I’m still in pain, maybe a little less than at the start but still enough to completely cut my gaming down to nothing.
[Reply]
Honsou Reply:
October 13th, 2011 at 7:02 AM
I had it that bad once, I had to stop gaming for about 3 weeks doing nothing but resting and taking anti-inflammatories. That was when I researched a great deal in treatment and prevention.
If its still very, very painful after a week then you should see the doctor. There might be a underlining problem that needs to be checked.
Honsou.
[Reply]
honsou how many years have you had RSI for?
after reading your site a few month’s ago , i have less pain but it still hurts when i play only some times , i have had rsi for 2 years now , and the RSI never goes away , do i have rsi forever?
[Reply]
Honsou Reply:
November 2nd, 2011 at 11:27 PM
I have had it for around 7 years.
Without knowing more details its hard to figure out if you have it permanently. You should have pain free days though.
If its painful all the time then you need to take more drastic action. Rest more, take anti-inflammatories and get to a point where you have no pain. Eventually only a long gaming/typing session will start to bring discomfort. If its still painful after that a long rest, you should see a doctor. Some people are prone to RSI regardless and gaming would make it worse, rather then being a trigger for pain.
Let me know how you get on!
Honsou.
[Reply]
hand pains Reply:
November 3rd, 2011 at 2:03 PM
thanks for the info , most days my hands are pain free but now and then i get the pain back , a weekend rest normally does the trick
i have one more question does keep playing while having RSI cause carpel tunnel?
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hello, im 15 im a hard core gamer been plAying all my life during summer id play about 10-12 hours unless a friend
got me out of my house. anywY this summer i switched to sc2 a mouse and keyboard heavy game. played about 4 hours and browsed the intdrnet for about another 6 hours. after about a month i woke up and i couldnt use my wrists at all typing hurt soo bad all i could do was watch tv as they ached. after about 3 weeks i went on vacation and when i came back my hands were decent no pain just a verry barely reconizable ache in my wrist. so i started gaming again and 4 weeks lAter it cake back. its been about 25 weeks and nothing i stopped using my computer for facebook and stuff but i cant type it starts to ache sooo bad i cant stand it. i take 4 ibuprofen (2 ij mornin 2 at night) i have wrist wraps and nothing fucking works im so upset becUse i was making money. anyway i have this achy/ pain on the back of my hands and knuckles nothing in my fingers help me i saw my doc he said he couldnt do anything! fml
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Honsou Reply:
November 7th, 2011 at 3:04 PM
Have you tried the stretches from my article? I will get a youtube video up soon about how to do them. I think they would fix most of the problems people get with RSI and gaming.
So, you dont game at all anymore? It sounds very chronic and you might need something stronger then Ibuprofen that a good doctor would give you. It might be worth going back to a different doctor and say you believe you have RSI and carpal tunnel and want a powerful anti-inflammatory. Get a reusable heat/ice pack and use it every hour while your resting and stretch your hands before going near the computer.
Let me know if your gaming or if its completely stopping you, and see if you can get better pills from the doctor.
Honsou.
[Reply]
troytrujll Reply:
November 7th, 2011 at 9:22 PM
thanks i do wrist yoga twice a week so i dont strain them. i havnt used my computer in month and i got a prescription for naproxon 250 mg twice a day it didnt do squat. havnt gamed in 4-5 months. i feel like theres a reset like i get close to it going away and then it comes back because i use my wrists somehow im scarred it wont ever go away i want to game about 3 hours a day and be myself again anything can help
[Reply]
troytrujll Reply:
November 8th, 2011 at 9:41 PM
help?
I am a nurse and would recommend that if people continue to have issues after months of TRUE rest (ie not 1 week off 3 weeks 6 hrs on) then go to your primary doctor and request a referral to an orthopedic doc. They are equipped with the tests and knowledge to (usually) specifically diagnose ones issues. Figuring out exactly what type of RSI you have will help to pinpoint a course of treatment. Someone with CTS shouldn’t won’t have the same treatment as someone with an obstructive ganglion cyst!
Finally: you can refuse ANY treatment. Do not fail to go to the doc because you are afraid of injections! They cannot do anything without your concent. Getting the advice of a doctor who is an expert in bones, tendons, ligaments, joints and how they work together is the type of advocate anyone with RSI should have on their team.
Thanks, Honsou for getting the word out, your therapies may be helping loads of people who refuse to go to the doc self treat enough to hopefully prevent a load of gamer cripples!
[Reply]
Hi, I have been noticing tingling in both my pinkies and lower palm recently, and both hands will occasionally hurt as well as my arms up to my elbows. The pain is worse in my right hand, but the tingling is usually worse in my left. It all started about a month ago when I was watching Netflix one night when my right hand around my pinkie kinda felt numb and then pain radiated through my arm. It lasted about a day and then went away. Then about 2 days later both hands had a burning/cold feeling in the tops of the hands, but that went away after about 2 hours and hasn’t returned. Since then it has been on and off again randomly, whether I have been playing games or not (FYI I used to play like 10 hours a day non-stop, and I primarily play Xbox 360). At the time of this writing my right arm is experiencing the pain in the hand and the slight numbness in the pinky. I am just wondering what this is and if this could be related to RSI or possibly Cubital Tunnel Syndrome? Any advice you could give me on the matter would be MUCH appreciated
[Reply]
Honsou Reply:
February 2nd, 2012 at 12:54 PM
It vaguely sounds like RSI. The pain in the arms might be from your posture from sitting down in a certain way. Google “posture computer” and you will get loads of information on that.
I am not a doctor, and I only know a bit about RSI and related conditions regarding pro-longed gaming injuries. Like I said, It sounds vaguely like RSI but also maybe a circulation problem. Probably worth getting it checked out at the doctors!
Honsou.
[Reply]
Joey Wheat Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 2:27 AM
Alright thank you for the input, I have scheduled a Doctor’s visit, and I am starting to think it might be a back or neck problem. The pain in my hands is gone for the most part, but now my right hand feels weak all the time and my left thumb feels sprained at the base and middle. I have no clue what is wrong with me, but I just want it to STOP! It seems if it isn’t one thing it is another, my right leg occasionally feels like it is about to go to sleep but never quite gets there, happening mostly in bed or when I am sitting, so it could be poor circulation as you said, but how do you fix poor circulation? IDK, thank you for the advice again
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Honsou Reply:
February 7th, 2012 at 6:44 PM
Fixing circulation is easy and fun.
1) Exercise.
2) A clean diet.
3) Fish oil.
Even if its not a circulation problem doing these will make sure you never will along with hundreds of other benefits. Sometimes a small tweak in a diet can have a big impact.
A healthy gamer is a happy gamer no? =D
Honsou.
Joey Wheat Reply:
February 8th, 2012 at 9:44 AM
Yah I have completely dropped the soda/caffine use and have been biking alot and lifting weights for about a month now, but I still don’t feel any better or worse. Have been taking b12, vitamin C, and fish oil. I also take a men’s daily multi, have been eating oatmeal for breakfast and have just cut down ALOT on what I used to eat, and have lost about 5 pounds that I know of (I am 5’11 and weight about 220 lbs)., so I have been making the effort and the necessary changes. I don’t think it is RSI, but you never know. I am only 23 so it is just kinda strange.
Honsou Reply:
February 11th, 2012 at 12:28 AM
Thats great! Keep it up
Regardless of what It may or may not be, excercising and being healthy rules out alot of things and/or makes other problems easier to diagnose. If its not RSI, then you are taking preventative measures that will most likely stop it from coming, or at least stop it from being as serious as it might of been otherwise. If you see the doctor please let me know what he says.
How do you feel about changing your diet in general?
Honsou.
Joey Wheat Reply:
February 11th, 2012 at 4:55 PM
I don’t mind it, I have never been much of a sweets guy to begin with so that wasn’t hard to give up, just have a weakness for salty foods like potato chips and stuff like that. I still eat out once a week just to help my metabolism, but for the most part have been feeling better, my hands have gotten alot better, exept as I said my right arm and wrist feel kinda tired all the time and my left thumb feels like it is sprained or something (RSI? Tendonitis? Who knows?). But yah I have been getting better man. I appreciate you listening and value your input
Honsou Reply:
February 16th, 2012 at 9:40 PM
Have you seen the doctor yet? When I had RSI very bad years ago my arm was numbingly painful, it was a nasty feeling. Some changes in diet and the resting optimally can have an immediate effect, but other issues can take longer.
You can try putting your arm out straight and pulling your whole hand back with your other hand, you would get a nice stretch in your wrist/forearm but it also benefits your elbow joint. The elbow generally wont hurt directly but can make your arm feel tired.
Also, google “alexander technique”. One of the key points of AT is correcting posture. I used to hunch my shoulders while gaming instead of letting them relax. I never knew I was doing it for years intil I had intense shoulder pain. AT fixed it for me.
Im glad I could help!
Honsou.
Joey Wheat Reply:
February 17th, 2012 at 7:14 AM
Nah haven’t seen the doctor about this yet, but I am really starting to believe that it is back and neck related. I always have pain in my back and neck and it is most likely due to poor posture. I will totally check out the Alexander Technique sounds promising and thank you so much for listening. I will get back to you when I visit the doctor
Im 13 and my left arm feels tired all the time especially my wrist. I have damaged my left elbow before and the doctors said i would have problems but i play maplestory wuite frequently and play xbox also quite frequently. Could it be RSI?
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Sounds like my right arm/wrist. Always tired and I don’t know why.
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Hey i developed pain in both wrists and middle/pointer finger knuckles. i found some good stretches that work for the wrists kinda, but my knuckles still flare up fairly easily. iwas wondering if u had any advice for knuckles? thanks.
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Honsou Reply:
February 21st, 2012 at 10:33 AM
Open your hands, and pull your fingers in towards your hands. Kinda like the motion someone would use when pretending to be a tiger. I could probably find millions of photos of some Japanese girl in cosplay doing this…
I have a video recorder so hopefully soon I will have a video on how to do these kinds of stretches.
Honsou.
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hey.
fellow sufferer here. im 24 and played games solidly from the age of 7 to 21. by the time i was 16 i was on xbox live 12 hours a day for a few years. the pain continually got more intense, so much so that now i cant even play on an xbox for 10 minutes without a pain shooting up from both my thumb and my trigger fingers…it goes all the way up to my shoulder. the interesting thing is…it got me out the house and im now a professional breakdancer…so theres a real difference between this soft muscle and the hard muscle. i feel little to no pain when im jumping on one hand..but put a keyboard infront of me and ill type in a weird way to avoid pain….its started to affect me more now im doing a masters degree and have to use the computer 10 hours a day. what more interesting is my diet is amazing, all fresh no cookies cakes chocolate, i take glucosamine (check it out, its good for repair), fish oils,and vitamin b. living with RSI is tough and when i go to the specialist (free treatment in the uk) im gonna see whats up. the worst thing to do is take an anti inflammatory and push on, as you know the next day…its gonna hurt twice as much. keep trying guys!
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Joey Wheat Reply:
April 10th, 2012 at 5:47 AM
Ok so I have seen the Doctor and he had NO CLUE what it was. Kind of annoying, but it is now in both of my thumbs, and has for the most part left the rest of my hands. Like I said before it is a sprained/bruised sort of pain and it seems to hurt more while I am resting, and doesn’t seem to matter if I am gaming or not. Basically from the base of my thumbs and up I can feel the pain. At first I thought it might be Basal Joint Arthritis, but the Doctor said I was to young to get Arthritis, and suggested I take Glucosamine for 2 weeks to see if it helps, saying that that would help diagnose Arthritis or rule it out. Well as you can probably guess it hasn’t been helping so I am thinking Tendon/nerve problems. I feel a burning feeling in my thumb joints at times and it radiates to the tip of my thumbs. No swelling pain though and NSAIDS don’t seem to work at all. So yah I am at a complete loss as to what this is and it is getting really frustrating. Don’t know if it is RSI, Tendonitis, Arthritis, or maybe some kind of thumb strain or sprain. My Ulinar nerves (The nerves that run through the elbow) still act up from time to time as well, resulting in tingling in my pinkies and ring fingers. Don’t know what to do anymore guess I will just keep waiting it out.
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Honsou Reply:
April 11th, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Was your doctor in his 60′s or something? Arthritis is increasingly becoming common amoung younger people, alot of doctors know that but I can imagine some docs are very old school and would assume no-one plays console/PC. Also, suggesting that you take Glusosamine is not professional coming from a doctor. He should of at least gave you a perscription for many non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
When I went on a full-on recovery from my RSI, it took maybe a year to completely stop the pain. 30 minutes typing would cause a flare-up between pain-free periods. It is not easy for the body to repair the soft tissues around your hands, so the best you can do is give your body the best you can to gain the ability to recover asap. Fish oil (deep sea fish-oil, not cod liver) is a powerful natural anti-inflammatory and can help directly with Arthritis, along with its many other benefits. Its a shame its so damn expensive!
Regarding Glucosamine, it can be fairly cheap and no harm in taking it, but its in the middle on the list of helpful suppliments. Fish oil is at the top, and in between are a few minerals that you can easily get with a multi-vitamin/mineral tablet. Did you explain to the doctor about the gaming? He will only tell you to cut down, but at least it will give him an idea of what hes working with.
Arthitis aside, it could be anything else. This will be a really lame comment, but if you keep healthy, exercise, live smart etc, you can limit what it could be and make it easier to diagnose. I really hope it gets better and keep in touch with any developments.
Honsou.
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Joey Wheat Reply:
April 13th, 2012 at 8:48 AM
Yah I am already taking Glucosamine, Fish Oil, B12, B6, and a daily multi-V. As I said in a previous post I have done almost a 360 on what I used to eat and do and I now work out alot and eat much healthier. It really is NOT a lame comment to say to work out and eat healthy. It is something far to many people don’t do and I was most certainly on of them not to long ago. It has gotten a lot better than it was in early January, but it is still hurting and I keep getting the tingling in my lower biceps and forearms all the way down to my hands. I thought I might have the early stages of Diabetes, but my Doc did the tests last month and said that everything was fine and that my cholesterol was a just a little high (140) but that I didn’t have the early signs of Diabetes. So the tingling is what baffles me the most, no pain just tingling. I only seem to have the pain in and around my thumbs although I have experienced minor pain radiate through both my arms up to my shoulders at times but the tingling comes and goes much more often (Maybe an early sign of RSI?). So yah that is what has been going on for the past 4 1/2 months, I REALLY appreciate you listening and talking with me about this stuff, because it seems to me that most people have NO CLUE what it is or what it feels like lol.
Honsou Reply:
April 21st, 2012 at 3:38 PM
I’m happy your keeping me posted, im curious to know what it is as but im fairly sure its RSI. I mentioned exercise and healthy living as “lame” as a crude attempt at sounding empathetic. Alot of gamers would not do the exercises or change their diet even if they knew they were developing RSI.
Have you looked up the Alexander Technique? I used to have serious pain in my shoulders. For months without noticing I was slightly hunching my shoulders up, and only when focusing on relaxing my shoulders, I stopped hunching them and it stopped the shoulder pain. Hands are one thing, shoulders are more likely a posterial and ergomatic issue.
Keep in touch and let me know how things develop. If you ever direct contact for whatever reason you can find me on my live stream at http://www.twitch.tv/kaihonsou
Honsou.
This was really helpfil. I recently have started muscle pains whe i was ill and gaming 7-9 hours a day. After reading this i relised that it wasnt what i had first expected the condition to be after leaving the xbox for a couple of days the muscle pain has subsided. Many thanks for the info. I just hope that i can reduce the time i play the xbox for and reduce the risk of permanemt rsi.
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