When most people think of video game-related injuries, they often think of being virtually shot, stabbed, thrown off a cliff, exploded, or (to briefly bring a decrepit meme out of retirement) taking an arrow to the knee. But the physical strain of gaming can take its toll after a while, and avid gamers know that the pain is far from virtual. Our tips for how to treat common gamer injuries will help you get back in the game.

Carpal Tunnel

Carpal tunnel involves pressure put on the median nerve in the wrist and can cause pain, numbness, and tingling throughout the hand and wrist. It’s essentially caused by bad wrist posture, such as having your wrists bent too much when using a keyboard or controller. Relaxing your grip and keeping your wrists in a more neutral posture helps prevent this as well as taking breaks during gaming sessions. In more severe cases, you can try wearing a brace when you aren’t gaming.

Gamer’s Thumb

Gamer’s thumb involves inflammation of the tendons in the thumb, making it difficult to unbend. Beyond rest, there are a few ways to treat this inflammation. Icing the injured area and taking time to stretch out your wrists and hands before and after gaming have been proven to help.

You can also take natural inflammatory reducers like omega-3, zinc, or green tea. CBD has also been reported to reduce inflammation; however, with the limited regulation on CBD, you’ll want to do your research when choosing CBD products.

Eye Strain

Eye strain from screen time can make itself known in several ways, such as discomfort, dry eyes, fluttering eyelids, muscle spasms, or headaches. When we are concentrating on a screen, we blink less often without realizing it, making eye strain worse. Being intentional about blinking can help relieve the pain. It also helps to give your eyes breaks by turning from the screen to focus on an object far away. You can also adjust your screen brightness or invest in anti-glare glasses.

Just like gaming itself, treating gamer injuries is simply a matter of strategy. By identifying the causes of gamer injuries, it’s easy to take evasive action to prevent and treat them—no cleric necessary.

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