How I Got into esports and Video Game Injury Rehabilitation

I have been asked the question a lot recently of , “How I Got into esports and Video Game Injury Rehabilitation”? My story, much like the story of my life, is not a normal pathway or foray into epsorts and video games. I had been a physical therapist for about 9 or ten years and to that point, I had practiced in about every setting imaginable. Acute care, home health, inpatient, outpatient, skilled nursing facilities, but my most recent job found me in a workman’s compensation (Workers Comp) setting. I basically saw people that got injured on the job. This ranged from truckers who were in motor vehicle accidents, to stock boys who strained their low back, to receptionists who had bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome due to overuse injuries from typing. It was working with a lot of these desk jockeys or “occupational athletes” where I had my first true lightbulb moment.

How To Connect Physical Therapy to esports and Video Games

The injuries I was seeing with computer programmers and typists were mainly arm injuries. Neck and shoulder strains from poor posture over long periods of time. Elbow injuries (bothe golfer’s elbow and tennis elbow) and strains from prolonged and repetitive movements of the arm. Carpal tunnel syndromes with numbness and tingling at the wrist and fingers from prolonged typing. And grip weakness and finger pain from either repetitive movements or prolonged extreme grip. So my “A-ha” moment hit me. These injuries are the exact type of injuries that esports athletes and video gamers experience. They can be streaming themselves playing video games for 10 or more hours at a time on Facebook or YouTube or Twitch. These prolonged playing times can lead to issues in posture, shoulder, elbow or wrist pain, or hand finger and grip strength. So if I just applied the fixes and treatments that I would apply to my workers comp patients to video gamers and esports athletes, I bet I could get similar results.

Physical Therapy CAN Help Video Game Injuries

These days, esports and video game streaming have become big business. Universities are offering esports scholarships. There are esports competitions that offer prizes to the winners of tens of thousands of dollars to up to millions of dollars. There are even gamers that are making annual salaries by live streaming on Twitch for many hours a day. Aches, pains, and neurologic issues are likely to occur at some point. And even if you are relatively symptom free as a gamer, if you want to bring your grip strength and your hand eye coordination to the next level for optimal game playing performance, physical therapists can help.

One Thing I Learned Today…

Physical Therapists are a great fit to help video gamers and esports athletes when it comes to some of the common injuries and issues they experience. If you are a video gamer or an esports athlete and you are experiences aches, pains, or numbness and tingling in your neck, arm or hand, reach out to me at (especially if you are in Texas). Also be on the lookout for my new eBook on managing your own esports paper writings and video game injuries due out Summer 2019! One of my side incomes is now treating esports athletes in person, vis telehealth, and through my ebook and online training program!