Can I Get Injured Playing Esports?
Can I Get Injured Playing Esports?
Esports injuries are rare but nonetheless, they exist. And the insidious aspect of esports injuries is that they don’t occur instantly like they do in rugby or other traditional sports. Rather, they happen over time. Their main causes are excessive play, poor posture, sedentarism, and an overall unhealthy lifestyle. If you have bad eating and sleeping habits, never exercise, and play video games all day for years, you inevitably expose yourself to the risk of suffering injuries.
Types of Injuries
The types of injuries that you can get by playing esports are the ones you’d expect. They involve your arms (particularly wrists), back, neck, and eyes. Extreme solicitation of these parts of your body can result in unpleasant symptoms and even chronic pain. To avoid this, you need to make sure that you don’t abuse your body.
Case Studies
Here are 3 famous esports athletes that have suffered injuries during their careers.
Clinton “Fear” Loomis
He’s an American Dota 2 player who’s had a long career but also struggled with an arm injury. This injury occurred as a result of long sessions of play and as you can imagine, had a negative impact on his performance. After he recovered Fear went on to win the Dota 2 World Championship with Evil Geniuses.
Olof “olofmeister” Gustafsson
This is a famous CS:GO player who has won numerous trophies during his long career. In 2016, after struggling with wrist pain for a while, he had to take a break in order to take care of his health.
Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi
He is one of the most famous Dota 2 captains and winner of The International 2017 with Team Liquid. In 2020 – 2021, however, he too had to struggle with an arm injury and missed for many months.
How To Prevent Injuries
The easiest way to prevent injuries is to take good care of your body. If you intend to play esports for a long time, get into the habit of taking breaks during sessions and exercising for 5-10 minutes. Also, make sure you have a good chair, a good desk, and a good posture. Last but not least, make sure you get enough sleep.
Statistics
Over the last decade, several studies were conducted to find out more about injuries caused by playing video games. If you’re interested in them, you can check out these resources:
Orthopedic Injuries From Video Games
https://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2010/10/05/recovering_from/
Also, if you need assistance with a personal injury, this is where you might find some great advice: https://esportshealthcare.com/video-game-injuries/