This virtual kind of sport does not look as traumatic and physically exhausting as football, tennis, weighlifting, skiing, does it? There is a common opinion that gamers are safe in their gaming chairs, but it is not true: professional gamers can spend more than eight hours a day in front of the computer and must train a lot for their sport. And these training sessions may be physically and mentally exhausting and lead to different injuries and problems. So, it is a big illusion that professional gamers dont risk their health. However, the typical esports injuries mainly differ from injuries and complaints in other kinds of sport. Let’s take a look at the eight common complaints cyberathletes face every day.

THE CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME

The most common type of esports injuries are Repetitive Strain Injuries in fingers and arms. Each progamer must perform many monoton movements with his fingers, and repetitive nature of these sports leads to different inflammations and tendon irritations. A wrist injury is carpal tunnel syndrome or median nerve compression. There is a median nerve which runs the length of the arm and ends in the hand, and between arm and hand there is a carpal tunnel.

If this carpal tunnel is compressed and becomes too narrow, it has a negative effect on the function of the median nerve. Therefore, it can lead to the numbness of fingers. The initial symptoms of this injury are not quite painful and the numbness does only occur sometimes, for example at night. However, as this syndrome gets worse, the person can have less strengh and feeling in fingers. There are also situations when the operation, carpal tunnel release is needed to increase the size of this tunnel to make arm work right. So, this problem can be quite serious and should not be ignored.

BACK PAIN

Lower-Back pain is a result of sitting too long in front of the screen and the poor sitting posture. It can cause tightness in the hip-flexors and glutes. In the beginning of such symptoms it is easy to treat them: it is important to take longer breaks from gaming and choose the better posture, so as to do stretching exercises. If the symptoms get worse, the back pain can lead to such problems as irritation of the sciatic nerve and herniated disc. To prevent such consequences it is important to make longer breaks and stay physically active. 

DIGITAL EYE STRAIN

Long gaming sessions can affect the vision and lead to such problems as eye strain, eye irritation, headaches and  blurred vision. The digital eye strain is also called “computer vision syndrome”. For example, progamers can have problems focusing their eyes or feel their eyes are very dry. Such factors as poor posture in front of the screen, playing in dark rooms can worsen these symptoms and cause computer vision syndrome. If nothing is done to fix the computer vision syndrome, this problem can lead to worsening eyesight. 

That is why it is very important to check your eyesight regularly if you are a gamer or need to spend many hours in front of the computer screen. To avoid symptoms of digital eye strain you must choose the proper posture while playing, use artificial tears and make longer breaks when playing. Gamers also use special glasses with anti-reflective coating, which reduces glare from screens.

The other usual esports complaints are “mouse elbow” syndrom and deep vein thrombosis. The “mouse elbow” syndrom occurs when the wrist is overloaded. The deep vein thrombosis is caused by the lack of movement and the blood flow in the legs. 

So, there are many health factors and risks to concern when it comes to professional gaming. The professional gamers are at a significant risk of injury and sometimes even retire due to health problems. The famous American League of Legends esports player Hai “Hai” Lam needed to take a long break in his career due to wrist injuries, and the DOTA 2 player Clinton “Fear” Loomis also had many problems with his wrist. Another famous progamer, Call of Duty League player Thomas “ZooMaa” Paparatto retired because of a thumb injury. The esports field is quite risky – and cyberathletes really need to risk their health as other professional athletes do.