PC gaming has given me severe Carpal Tunnel Syndrome...

I've been PC gaming since aslong as I can remember. But never have I expected this. As I type this message I can feel a slight pain in my wrist even after i've taken my new medication.

PC gaming has always been a hobby of mine, like most people I did it to get away from it all. Even if just for a minutes. But only about a week ago, after playing a game of CS:S, my wrist started to hurt. I didn't think much of it, and went on with my life. So for the next few days my wrist was having moderate aching, nothing to sierious, and I played my PC and worked and you know, the whole bit. That was until Tuesday. When I played another game of my usual CS:S, the pain got horrid. Just in the middle of a match, so I told the guys to continue without me. And I logged off.

By Thursday I decided to go to the the clinic. Turned out I had servere Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I asked what the 'severe' was all about and he said, "It will hurt... alot. Mabey for the rest of your life." He figured that the PC gaming did it to me. I told him that it wasnt an all the time thing. He said it didn't matter, the damage was done over time. So he gave me my pain meds and sent me on my way.

So here I am. Sitting on this computer typing about my new crippled wrist. Which is kinda funny seeing how being on this computer isn't gonna make it any better... I now can't even pick up a juice container without the pain. Oh well. As he said, the damage is done. Whether or not i'll even consider playing a PC game again. 

Sorry for your loss dude. People have to be careful about this stuff. I'd advise you to take a break from gaming in general. Console games can give you carpal tunnel as well - any frequent repetative motion can. You'll probably want to do something that doesnt require using your hands much for a few months. Hmm... maybe reading?

I've been PC gaming since aslong as I can remember. But never have I expected this. As I type this message I can feel a slight pain in my wrist even after i've taken my new medication.

PC gaming has always been a hobby of mine, like most people I did it to get away from it all. Even if just for a minutes. But only about a week ago, after playing a game of CS:S, my wrist started to hurt. I didn't think much of it, and went on with my life. So for the next few days my wrist was having moderate aching, nothing to sierious, and I played my PC and worked and you know, the whole bit. That was until Tuesday. When I played another game of my usual CS:S, the pain got horrid. Just in the middle of a match, so I told the guys to continue without me. And I logged off.

By Thursday I decided to go to the the clinic. Turned out I had servere Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I asked what the 'severe' was all about and he said, "It will hurt... alot. Mabey for the rest of your life." He figured that the PC gaming did it to me. I told him that it wasnt an all the time thing. He said it didn't matter, the damage was done over time. So he gave me my pain meds and sent me on my way.

So here I am. Sitting on this computer typing about my new crippled wrist. Which is kinda funny seeing how being on this computer isn't gonna make it any better... I now can't even pick up a juice container without the pain. Oh well. As he said, the damage is done. Whether or not i'll even consider playing a PC game again.

explicthangnail

Very sorry to hear this dude, i would definately get a second opinion on his take that you will/may be permanently damaged.

 There were times many years ago when I could feel KT type symptoms coming on.  In response, I would always take care to stretch my hands out whenever possible, clench a fist and then release, and take breaks when it feels like my hands are straining too much.  I've been an avid gamer for many many years, and a massive computer user at work, and have avoided any damage.  Seems like i'm almost immunized to it now, after all these years of the repetitive motions, and primarily, keeping tabs on the state of how my hands feel at any given time.

You do know that surgery could fix your problem right? It's been done before.onlineterrorism

I had sugery done on my left hand because of carpal tunnel a few years ago. Mine was caused by a combination of time spent on my computer and the type of work I do. Mine was so bad that I could barely sleep at night because of the numbness in my hand and the shooting pain from my elbow to my wrist. It is a very simple surgery with almost no risk of complications.

The one thing you might want to try for a while is wearing a wrist brace. Get one of the good ones with a metal piece that keeps your wrist from bending. Wear it when you're on your computer and most importantly, when you sleep. When people sleep they have a tendency to curl up their wrists. I still wear wrist braces to bed at night just to be sure. If you wake up at night and find your hand numb or in pain, hang it over the edge of the bed and it should start to feel better in a few minutes.

The one thing I would avoid if I were you is cortizone injections. They do work, but are only temporary and HURT LIKE HELL. It literally feels like somebody is driving a nail through your wrist. After a few of them I said screw it and opted for the surgery.

One other thing.  You need to see an orthopedic doctor.  They will X ray your writs and do nerver testing to verify that it is indeed carpal tunnel.   

Rub some dirt on it.  Or walk it off.

Best part is you can't really get carpal tunnel from pc gaming ...unless you're typing in an insanely awkward and uncomfortable position. justheretodl124

That's not true, Justheretodl. Though it's known what results in carpal tunnel symptoms--compression damage to the median nerve in the wrist--it's unclear exactly what sort of activities can cause that damage. Repetetive hand motions are sometimes involved, as are awkward hand and wrist positions. Strenuous activity can be a factor. So can familiy history, it seems.

It appears that some people can develop carapl tunnel syndrome from ordinary typing, even with precautions. Other people can type standing up during the day and arm wrestle gorillas all night and never experience a symptom.

PC gaming can definitely cause the disorder; it could be the result of bad habits, or it could be bad luck. Hard to say.

You should really read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpal_tunnel_syndrome

A lot of info here!

A few tips: don't drink alcohol or smoke as neuronal damage and vasospasms will make things worse. If you feel loss of sensibility or muscular force in 1 (thumb), 2 and 3 fingers of your hand, you should see a doctor. Surgery can reverse the symptoms. Nerve damage is worst case scenario here, but it does not happen over night. Just read up on wikipedia and be aware of those serious symptoms and you'll be fine. EMG and x-ray is not necessary unless your diagnosis is unclear, which should be made based on clinical findings (at least by a competent doctor). Steroid injections may give a short term relief. And I seriously doubt that your hand will never get better.

And yeah, don't play CS. Even your body is telling you that that game sucks, lol, just kidding.

But seriously, I wish you good luck with your hand. Get well! :)

Gmafia: man i hope you get better. currently right now, actually, i have this sist (not sure how to spell it) on my right wrist. Im not quite sure what caused this but most likely from when I was in tennis a few weeks ago. I still have to get some opinions about it and what can be done about it. Hopefully you can get your problem resolved!

Is this similar to what you have?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganglion_cyst

If it is, I would not worry too much. It's simple to remove a ganglion cyst, I've seen it done with great results.

My wrists never got to the point where I need pain medication, but I do have minor CTS in my wrists.

Few things,

1) Wear wrist splits at night while you sleep. Not too tight to cut off curculation, but enough to keep your wrists straight.

2) Try not to play FPS games for extended periods of time. Ya, it was hard for me too. 

3) Try to play wearing wrist splits. It'll force you to keep your wrists straight while your playing. Yes it will reduce your reaction time, but thats better then not playing at all or surgery.

4) Crank up your mouse speed. 

5) There are quite a few exercises you can do to help relax your wrists. Google can help you with that. 

Hope this helps. PM me if you need any more.  

[QUOTE="onlineterrorism"]You do know that surgery could fix your problem right? It's been done before.explicthangnail

Surgery should be your very last option, my parents both had it done (my dads left wrist, my moms right.. and shes getting it AGAIN on the 29th), and they both say its never the same. 

yeah i had some problems a few weeks ago the pain was intense for a few days and i was scared $hitless  i will be cripled for life , but it got better after a few days. i still have pains now and then but notheing serious

my gues is the doctors can fix it , if they can cure cancer make heart transplants im sure they can fix up somebodys wrist.

worst case scenario = you will be taking pain meds your whole life which is not that bad .

yeah i had some problems a few weeks ago the pain was intense for a few days and i was scared $hitless i will be cripled for life , but it got better after a few days. i still have pains now and then but notheing serious

 

my gues is the doctors can fix it , if they can cure cancer make heart transplants im sure they can fix up somebodys wrist.

worst case scenario = you will be taking pain meds your whole life which is not that bad .

carcina

You've never seen someone have to take 2 oxycotin a day + oxycotet when the pain is severe have you?

[QUOTE="explicthangnail"][QUOTE="onlineterrorism"]You do know that surgery could fix your problem right? It's been done before.Infernal246

Surgery should be your very last option, my parents both had it done (my dads left wrist, my moms right.. and shes getting it AGAIN on the 29th), and they both say its never the same. 

Hmm, surgery usually helps, but it can take several months to get better post-op. Another point is that if you do not treat CTS with nevrological symptoms before it's too late, even surgery won't help you. So I'm not sure if the "wait and see" approach is the right one, while your fingers get more and more numb every month.

not  a single negative comment that is awesome and hope u can come back to gaming soon GOOD LUCK

Sorry to hear about that. Getting carpal tunnel is something thats in the back of my mind. On the plus side, carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the afflictions where medicinal marijuana is suitable. I actually used the stuff after a doc patched me up and it really does work. So even if youre not a stoner, you might want to give it serious consideration.

Like most enjoyable things in life, there is often a trade off.  I am problably taking ten years off my life by smoking and being a gourmand, but I would rather die at 75-80 living a happy life than die at 90 while living a cautious life.

Ive had carpal tunnel for years. It comes & goes. I stretch n do wrist exercises alot, and since then ive been working out more altogether. I havent had any severe aching pain since probably last summer. I dont remember the details but the carpal tunnel is from lack of blood flow or something, and doing all the stretches and exercises has helped alot. Even while sitting around waiting for something to happen ill get up pace around stretch do a few exercises here n there n im fine, for the most part.

This is the #1 reason i wish more PC games would take 100%+ advantage of a 360 controller.

And i do smoke mad amounts of ganj but i dont think that has helped anything at all. 

First of all, I'm curious ...where do you live?   There are various treatments for CTS, it sounds rather odd that your doctor would just give you pain meds and basically say "deal with it".  

Anyways, I'm not too sure why you are blaming gaming for your condition.    I'm willing to bet anything that the VAST majority of your time spent on your computer involved doing things other than gaming.   Hell, if there was a way I could calculate the time spent gaming and the time spent just doing general things on my computer.... I wouldn't be suprised if my gaming portion only took up 10% of my time in total.     So if anything, you could blame your computer practices in general.   

My wrist did start hurting after while.. I've been using computers for many years, now.. I got one of those gel mousepads and it seems to help a lot. For the most part, I can't really use a plain mousepad, 'cause my wrist starts hurting after while from the pressure on the table, so I always go gel. I heard that steroid injections work really well for some people, I'm not sure if that's normally part of surgery or what.. But computers are very popular nowadays, and cts is only recently becoming a much more popular problem.. I'd assume medical science will advance in the field somewhat quickly, and probably has been. I'm going to assume that cts is somewhat rare, considering the HUGE, amazing amounts of people nowadays that play computer games, or sit on computers at work alllll day long for years and years..

What angle of the wrist actually causes this problem? Is it from having your table angle your hand downwards from your forearm, or angling it upwards?
 Or is it pressure of your wrist on the table pressing against a certain bone or tendons?

Crap, man. I am really sorry for you. There is a surgery that you can have done, though. I wish you well. In light of all your upcoming free time, might I suggest these three books.

1. Lamb (Christopher Moore)

2. The Life of Pi (yann Martel)

3. The Zombie Survival Guide (Max Brooks)

Herrick's been typing for 14 years and playing PC Games since 1999 or 1998. I also type at my job all day. I recently started to feel a lot of pain until I bought this: http://www.imakproducts.com/products/computer_glove.htm. My pain was so bad that I had to stop playing games. I haven't had any pains since I bought this thing.

Anyone else who gets these pains should probably talk to a doctor, or check out that thing. 

Herrick's been typing for 14 years and playing PC Games since 1999 or 1998. I also type at my job all day. I recently started to feel a lot of pain until I bought this: http://www.imakproducts.com/products/computer_glove.htm. My pain was so bad that I had to stop playing games. I haven't had any pains since I bought this thing.

Anyone else who gets these pains should probably talk to a doctor, or check out that thing.

Herrick

did you just refer to yourself in the third person? lol 

My mom has carpool tunnel as well ( i think like 50% of women do above age 50).  Anyways, She ius thinking about surgery b ut it's expensive and might not even work.  As i'm typng, i also have a tinge in both my wrist to forearm are (bottom side).  I thinkn i have moderate carpool tunnel but my family is too poor to take me to a doctor.  I've played alot of computer games: stratergy, fps, online (wow, guildwars, gunz, goonzu, maplestroy) u name it.  It has becoime a part of my life and i play everyday for several hours or more.  It was just about 3-4 months ago that in the middle of an online shooter, my writst had sudden pain.  I didn't think much of it like you, but now I think it wont' get better, only worse; as the name implys "carpool tunnel syndrome." 

Well this is enought typing for me...we should sue the gaming industry...o wait, i'm too poor lol

funny thing is, i still typing and playing computer games. 

did you just refer to yourself in the third person? lol

XBSHX

No way, mang. It must have been your imagination. 

To the TC: I think there is a head controler soon to come. Its like a keyboard but it picks up brain signals and converts them into game actions.

No pain for you by the end of the year... I think...HostileEffect

lol are you sure youre not mistaking reality with that Clint Eastwood movie Firefox where the plane reads your thoughts?  I mean, I know theyre working on it but is that technology affordable and available to the public?