{"id":15338,"date":"2026-08-30T16:38:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T09:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=15338"},"modified":"2026-08-30T16:38:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T09:38:53","slug":"professional-gaming-is-brutal-on-the-body-inside-the-growing-field-of-treating-esports-injuries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/professional-gaming-is-brutal-on-the-body-inside-the-growing-field-of-treating-esports-injuries\/","title":{"rendered":"Professional gaming is brutal on the body \u2013 inside the growing field of treating esports\u00a0injuries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Young
A Taiwanese gamer from the esports team Flash Wolves takes pills during a training session for the \u2018League of Legends\u2019 World Championship at a boot camp in Shanghai. Chandan Khanna\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Chinese esports player Jian \u201cUzi\u201d Zi-hao was more than a star \u201cLeague of Legends\u201d player: He was so talented that his team structured its entire strategy around his abilities, funneling resources to him and another teammate, Shi \u201cMing\u201d Sen-Ming, so the duo could lead the team to victory. Over the course of his career, he earned more than US$500,000 in tournament prize money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet in 2020, Jian announced his retirement, his storied career cut short by chronic wrist and arm injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was 25 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video games have a reputation for keeping people glued to the couch. But for those who compete against the best players in the world, gaming can be surprisingly physically and mentally taxing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strain of \u2018climbing the ladder\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The best esports players often have grinding schedules. They\u2019re expected to regularly practice, participate in scrimmages and compete in official matches. Even at the recreational level, esports players cite the mental toll: playing for hours a day, every day, to hone their skills so they can \u201cclimb the ladder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2021 study of Portuguese esports players found that 37% experienced anxiety and depression, and 45% experienced sleep disturbances. The most common physical injuries in esports generally fall under eye problems and musculoskeletal issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prolonged screen time leads to many types of vision problems in gamers, from the more common eye fatigue to a decreased ability to focus. Furthermore, the light emitted from screens appears to contribute to sleep disturbances by disrupting the release of melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate your sleep-wake cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A member of the all-female computer gaming team QWER uses eye drops at her team\u2019s training center in Seoul. Ed Jones\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Many esport players \u2013 professional or otherwise \u2013 also battle hand and wrist pain, with repetitive button-smashing causing injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis and \u201cgamer\u2019s thumb,\u201d which arises from overuse or irritation of the tendons around the thumb and wrist. Many of the overuse injuries seen among video game players are also familiar to assembly-line workers, whose jobs can involve similarly repetitive movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there are the back injuries. Players can remain seated for three or more hours without a break, and this prolonged sitting can take a toll on the lower back and spine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sedentary nature of esports has also led to a lesser-known \u2013 sometimes fatal \u2013 injury called deep vein thrombosis: a blood clot, often in the leg, that can become life-threatening if it travels to the lungs. In 2011, British gamer Chris Staniforth \u2013 who would play for as long as 12 hours at a time \u2013 died of the condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preventative measures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As more esports injury research has been published, more treatment and prevention strategies have emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top esports teams now have physical therapists, performance psychologists, athletic trainers and even massage therapists on staff to optimize the performance and recovery of their players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teams often incorporate group exercise activities to both build rapport among players and reduce the risk of injuries. During competition, proper positioning of the spine and limbs has become an essential injury prevention strategy. For example, selecting a chair that encourages an upright posture can reduce pain and injury risk, especially when gamers couple ergonomics with an exercise program that centers on functional strength, mobility and stretching of the upper limbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Brazilian esports athletes attend a physical training session in Rio de Janeiro in May 2021. Mauro Pimentel\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Looking to the stage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When esports began gaining mainstream popularity in the 1990s and early 2000s, its proponents were eager to draw comparisons to traditional sports and athletic competition. The parallels helped establish esports\u2019 legitimacy and gave non-gamers a familiar framework for understanding the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As esports became a big business and a lucrative career path, players and teams hired a web of support staff \u2013 trainers, coaches and therapists \u2013 that mirrored the structure of professional sports. In this vein, a lot of esports injury research has pulled from the training methods of traditional sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as a scholar of exercise science, I think injury treatment and prevention strategies could be further improved by seeing esports competitors as more like musicians and dancers than football players and basketball players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performance optimization and injury research on professional performing artists has existed for centuries, and I think it represents a valuable, untapped resource. That\u2019s because the physical and mental stresses experienced during musical performance have a lot in common with esports competition: long stretches of sitting; small, dexterous hand movements; and performing without the real-time input of a coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, biomechanics research has found similar patterns of forearm muscle fatigue among esports players and piano players. However, no studies to date have directly compared the two groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what if the interest in joint hypermobility or hand size among performing artists were translated to esport populations? Could popular piano warm-up exercises be effective for esports athletes who use keyboards?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even research on sports like car racing might offer valuable insights. As with gamers, many people overlook how physically demanding car racing can be \u2013 and yes, that includes sitting for extended periods of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Young
A member of the esport team Vitality observes a demonstration of a reflex-training machine in Enstone, England. Philippe Lopez\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Prevention and rehabilitation techniques continue to improve. Even Jian, the player who retired in 2020, returned to play for a few splits, or partial seasons, in 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2023, \u201cLeague of Legends\u201d star Lee \u201cFaker\u201d Sang-hyeok was relegated to the bench due to cubital tunnel syndrome, an injury that emerges from arm and hand overuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through a treatment plan that included changing his gaming posture and intensive physical therapy, Lee was able to return to play just a month later. He went on to win three consecutive world championships, with his support team helping prevent recurrence of injury throughout each season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to his rehabilitation, Lee\u2019s fans will be able to follow his hunt for his fourth \u201cLeague of Legends\u201d World Championship, which kicks off in October 2026 in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sienna Cinti assisted with the research and writing of this article.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erica D. Henn<\/a>, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Exercise Science, Temple University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chinese esports player Jian \u201cUzi\u201d Zi-hao was more than a star \u201cLeague of Legends\u201d player: He was so<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[470,14],"class_list":["post-15338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-e-sports","tag-gaming","tag-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t