I don't really play games anymore, and the most frequent advice on them in the ergo subforum is to give them up. I'm certainly not saying that's wrong, but I'm wondering if there's some middle ground, some advice we could give out to those who are having real difficulties in giving them up, in spite of having pain.
Any thoughts? Are you in this boat, or are firmly of the opinion of dropping them right now, or have some ideas that worked for you?
I don't play often any more, but that's just due to time constraints.
A couple of things that helped me:
1. build up a palm rest for the keyboard hand so your wrist can remain straight while using it if you're playing a game that requires prolonged pressed keys (like forwards for example). You should rest the nub of your palm on the rest, kind of like a pivot, without the rest of your wrist / palm touching.
2. If you're using a "normal" board, angle the board with the left side further away and the right side towards you, so the fingers rest more naturally on the keys at the correct angle. This prevents twisting the wrist.
3. Not completely ergonomics related, but on a normal board consider using ESDF instead of WASD. It gives you more keys in immediate reach for extra actions and moves your hands a little closer to each other.
4. Try to find a mouse that has an angled surface rather than an ambidextrous or flat one to prevent pronation.
5. Use the same building up a rest to have straight wrists and resting the nub of the palm trick with the mouse, although this is harder due to the mouse movements and position, especially if you're a low sensitivity FPS player.
6. Adjust the mouse pad and arm angle similar to the keyboard (angled "inwards").
7. Use a small keyboard like a 60% or TKL (or use IJKL or numpad) to allow your hands to be closer together while playing.