Right Wrist Pain: Causes & Treatment for Professional Gamers

Thousands of actions per minute are not surprising to cause wrist pain during prolonged gaming sessions, and it doesn't matter if the wrists are swollen, sore, or throbbing. Gaming injuries result from carpal tunnel syndrome or right wrist pain, and damage to the carpal tunnel occurs when severe swelling occurs.

The narrow passage lies in the middle of the wrist. In the tunnel, nerves and tendons are compressed, leading to tingling sensations, numbness in the fingers, and right-hand wrist pain. Gamers commonly develop repetitive strain injuries or right wrist pain due to the common wrist position and movements they use.

The chronic and repetitive nature of gaming makes wrist pain more likely to occur. It's possible to damage your wrists in some cases after excessive gaming permanently. You can mitigate the harm caused by carpal tunnel syndrome through simple remedies before it becomes severe. We have listed some treatments to address why your right wrist hurts so that you can continue playing games without pain.

Causes of Right Wrist Pain

You may have heard of clattering keys, squeezing buttons, clicking quickly, running joysticks in precise patterns and sweeping gestures with the mouse. One of the common right wrist pain causes of tenosynovitis is the repetitive mechanical movements of playing video games.

Our muscles have a limited capacity for endurance, which means they become tired over time. When tendons don’t get proper rest, they develop tiny tears, which eventually become inflamed.

Our bodies' natural response to healing is suppressed as we play longer, which leads to more tears and inflammation. Gamers' thumbs, gamer's wrists, or de Quervain's syndrome are all common names for tendonitis of the first compartment of the wrist.

A sore thumb or wrist is the top right-hand wrist pain reason, which causes inflammation of the tendons in the wrist and thumb. Video gameplay is repetitive and, in this case, results in this phenomenon. The repetitive motion of lifting their newborn baby makes it especially common for new mothers. Wrist injuries are typically characterized by:

• When grasping, grabbing, clenching, or wringing the wrist, there is pain
• Angioedema, redness, and swelling
• Hand/wrist/forearm ache, soreness, or tenderness

Treatments and Solutions for Right Wrist Pain

Be observant about nagging pains

Play by your body's rules at all times. Give your body and yourself a break to rest and repair. Hence, don't push past discomfort to gain immediate relief. If you do not rest now, your game time reduces, and you may have to rest long-term.

If further assistance is needed, consider seeking physical therapy to discover what exercises your body may need to keep up with a career in gaming. Ice and anti-inflammatories can help too, but it is also a smart idea to prevent injuries in the first place.

Improve your ergonomics

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is caused by poor carpal tunnel desk setup, as we mentioned earlier. Our proper sitting posture at the computer while in front of the computer is crucial to avoiding wrist pain. You can dramatically reduce arm muscle and tendon fatigue by changing your position and device placement.

Ensure that the height of your chair allows your forearms to be level or extended downwards towards your keyboard. Using wrist pads too often could damage the nerve and tendon in the carpal tunnel since they place the joint at an incorrect angle.

Hardware

The primary cause of wrist pain when playing video games is inappropriate hardware. When we don't have enough room to hold our mouse in our hand, we tend to hold it short and damage our wrists in the process. It is the same with keys on ergo keyboards - too much pressure on them puts excessive strain on hands, fingers, and joints.

Wrist exercises

There are hand and wrist exercises focused on training each part of the body, just as there are exercises aimed at reducing wrist fatigue. We don't need to do these exercises to strengthen and condition our wrist, forearm, and hand muscles, and our wrists will be less loaded, and we will be able to avoid muscle fatigue.

Reposition your mouse

Afterwards, your entire hand turns outwards toward the pinky, a phenomenon known as ulnar deviation. Getting your hand to move to the right is harder in this position, and there are structures on the pinky side that need to be engaged.

As you try to move to the right, the pressure on your wrists is even greater. The extensor carpi ulnaris can become irritated if the wrist flicks to the right, which maintains a stable base for your fingers.

Shift your best mouse for thumb pain to a more neutral position. So, you can flick quickly left or right, your wrist and forearm muscles and tendons can rest comfortably. A stable base is vital to the mobility of your hands and fingers. To shift into a more neutral position, move to the right. 

Stretch yourself out

You're bound to encounter a few stretches, no matter what part of your body you're stretching. Stretches are essential because they help improve our blood flow, maintain our range of motion, and relax our overused muscles by untangling nerves and removing stress from the body.

Take a break

Competitive gaming can impact your body. Excess stress will build up in your neck, shoulder, back, forearms, elbows, and lower-back muscles, whether you win or lose.

Taking frequent breaks will prevent this from happening. The recommended practice is to take a 15-minute break every 45 minutes. We advise taking a break from gaming if the soreness persists for more than a few days at a time. 

Hand warmth

Lastly, avoid cold environments when gaming. Wrist muscles can stiffen up, become swollen, and accelerate existing injuries during cold weather. Take regular breaks in the bathroom and warm your hands in lukewarm water if you find it hard to avoid playing in a cold environment. In addition, purchasing lightweight, warm gloves is another way to help keep you warm.