Hello Geekhack community
Hi, my name is Shaqfosho and I am a 20 years old gamer. I'd like to tell you about the problems I have encountered recently since the launch of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor.
I've always been a gamer, I've had a few hand injury and pain problems here and there but they've solved/disappeared by themself. But this time, things are not going the way they are supposed to be. It is very often I've had wrist issues in the left hand(the keyboard WSAD hand), but now I am struggling with pain in the fingers in BOTH hands. It is extremely frustrating, I bought hand bandages that supports the wrists, I bought keyboard wrest support which appears to almost have no effect only when writing.
I understand that the majority here not are doctors or physiologists, but I'd like to gain some knowledge of what to do, I'd LOVE to hear YOUR (happy)stories and (happy)experiences where something bad happened with your fingers, hands and wrists but ended well and where you came back to your normal routines. And I'd like to know HOW you solved the situation.
The reason why I mentioned World of Warcraft was because I began playing a lot after the launch. And now, two months after, I have hand injuries. I mean like, everywhere, here and there. It's different, sometimes it's passive, sometimes it's not, sometimes it is when I use the hand. Sometimes it's the thumb, sometimes its the long finger and so on. It's everywhere. I have NO issues lifting weight, my own body weight or anything - it feels great to do these things(though I do feel when taking push-ups, that my hands have been ''used'', but that kind of 'used pain' disappears). But now when I touch a keyboard or mouse I just feel pain and irritation.
I'd like to list the things(with explanation) I've tried over the last month to now - whereas some things have improved! But now it feels like things are getting worse or just stays the same. And I have to be honest, there is a lot of psychic in this, I end up being paranoid and I think that sometimes I do not know whether I am dealing with pain or not.
The list:
1 Take small breaks(5-15 min) when playing video games(1-4 days)
2 Take a long break playing video games with high intensity(FPS,WoW)(30 days)
3 Take a total break from touching keyboard(3-4 days)
4 Exercise Fingers, Hands and Wrists - watching this video:
and more from this guy
5 Been excercising with stress balls, elastic bands and weights
6 Bought new equipment:
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga - I had this mouse before:
http://steelseries.com/products/mice/steelseries-rival - I realised that BOTH mices did not help. And I realised that Steelseries Rival is a terrible mice that insanely huge and not AT ALL ergonomically build despite written on the description. You should NEVER buy Rival especially if you have a small to medium size hand(Mine is medium). I bought this keyboard rest:
http://www.grafical.dk/esselte-keyboard-haandledsstoette-med-gele-sort/ - It does almost nothing and it is not recommend to buy these, they are just a waste of money almost(It's better than nothing, it is more comfortable if you have a high standing keyboard). Now I use a completly standard mouse - It is the best atm.
7 I've visited my doctor twice who said I should take breaks, go for a walk, obviously someone who did not know what was wrong but I followed all her instructions and I told everything about my issues. She told me I could go to a psychiologist but that costs money.
8 I bought a hand Bandage to both hands - It helps the wrists a lot!
9 And finally. My Keyboard -
http://steelseries.com/products/keyboards/steelseries-6gv2 It is a Mechanical Keyboard, I bought it 8 months ago and I do not use it anymore. Just today I switched to a standard keyboard. I felt that the Keyboard was extremely ''tall'' and the buttons were hard to press on.
I guess that is the list. Current status is I use standard equipment, I do not mind buying new equipment or go to the phychiologist if that is the cure. I do not play ANY high intensity games like I use to, the only thing I play here and then is a digital card game Hearthstone. I know there is no magic pill that solves everything but at the moment I feel that I am lost. All my gaming buddies do not know what to do nor say because they have not tried it before. I hope you guys can tell me anything about what you feel, experienced, tried and struggled with. I'd appreciate any kind of help, hints or tips.
I am willing to do anything, from the longest breaks, to insane exercise, pro tips, though my budget is not that high unfortunately.
Thank you so much for reading this
Please help me
Kind regards,
Shaqfosho