You might have heard of online gamers who play over 40 hours nonstop, even peeing in improvised urine bottles, to complete an open-world campaign. While we laud such individuals’ competitiveness, we worry about online gaming’s impact on the body.
From repetitive hand movements to marathon gaming sessions, gamers are at risk for strain-related injuries and health problems associated with poor posture and prolonged sitting. Sadly, these physical health issues can also negatively impact in-game performance, causing them to lose a match and affecting their mental and emotional health.
Chiropractic care offers a practical solution to these problems, empowering online gamers to improve posture and productivity. How? Read on.
Health Challenges of Online Gaming
While online gaming is a productive avenue for unleashing one’s problem-solving prowess, reflexes, strategic thinking, resourcefulness, and creativity, it can bring unpleasant consequences to gamers.
-
Prolonged sitting
Studies show sitting for 6 hours in an office setting can produce neck pain (53.5%), lower back discomfort (53.2%), and shoulder aches (51.6%), leading to mental exhaustion, hypertension, musculoskeletal disorders, and job dissatisfaction.
If 6-7 hours of prolonged sitting can have adverse effects, one can easily imagine what a 12- or 40-hour marathon gaming session will do. Poor blood circulation, joint discomfort, spinal compression, and muscle stiffness will be more pronounced.
-
Repetitive strain injuries
Online gaming requires rapid mouse clicks and keypad strokes. Unfortunately, these movements can strain the fingers, wrists, and hands. Some players also report forearm discomfort.
Unsurprisingly, inflammation of the tendons (called tendinitis) and wrist nerve compression (carpal tunnel syndrome) are not uncommon among online gamers.
-
Poor posture
Not all online gamers have ergonomically designed gaming chairs that ensure correct sitting posture, causing upper back pain, shoulder discomfort, and neck strain. Moreover, game intensity can make players lean forward or slouch to guarantee better gameplay control.
For instance, many guides noted unique gameplay behaviors in highly intense games, like Resident Evil 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Helblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, where gamers often find themselves on the edges of their seats.
-
Physical and mental fatigue
Prolonged sitting, poor posture, and repetitive strain injuries can sap your mental energy, making you lose focus. You will also feel tired, making concentration more challenging. Sadly, fatigue can negatively impact your gaming performance, especially during intense sessions.
How Chiropractic Care Can Support Online Gamers
No gamer should see their performance drop and undermine their team’s battle success or drop from the tiers. So, how can chiropractic care support online gamers? Here’s how.
-
Provides mental clarity and stress relief
Unknown to many, many benefits of chiropractic to mental health exist, including stress management, anxiety alleviation, mood enhancement, and relaxation. Gamers will have a calmer mindset and better focus, which are necessary, especially in high-stakes gaming sessions.
-
Reduces back discomfort and pain
Chiropractors can manipulate the spine to ensure proper alignment, improve mobility, and alleviate pain. With individual vertebrae in their correct position, online gamers won’t feel pressure on their backs, including the neck. It translates to an improved in-game performance, especially in marathon gaming.
-
Enhances flexibility and promotes adequate blood circulation
Adjusting the spine doesn’t only relieve pressure and alleviate pain. It can also improve blood flow while ensuring optimal nerve function. The result? Fewer incidences of prolonged sitting-related discomfort and stiffness. Additionally, spinal alignment can improve overall flexibility, making it easier to maintain the correct posture during prolonged gaming.
-
Alleviates repetitive strain injuries
Chiropractors aren’t only masters of spinal alignment. They are also experts in soft tissue therapies, like myofascial release and joint mobilization. It’s like giving your fingers, hands, and wrists the much-needed exercises and stretches they need to be stronger and more resilient against future strain injuries.
-
Ensures better posture
Chiropractors can teach you how to maintain the correct sitting posture during intense gaming, including advice on chair modifications if you cannot afford an ergonomic gaming seat. They can teach you about the ideal gaming monitor positioning (including height) and using spinal health-supportive gaming peripherals.
Tips for Online Gamers to Improve Posture and In-game Productivity
Use the following tips to improve your posture and productivity.
- You could do sports or take a break between the game rounds. To reduce the time of gaming, you could use boosting services. However, we recommend reading game boosting guides first to find reliable, safe boosters.
- Invest in a good gaming chair with adjustable features (i.e., seat and armrest height) and neck, head, and low back support. It doesn’t have to be expensive but should support your body during prolonged gaming.
- Position your gaming monitors at eye level, ensuring you don’t tilt your head when playing.
- Use ergonomic keyboards and wrist-friendly mouse pads.
- Rest your eyes on an object or scenery at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes of gameplay.
- Stretch your neck, shake your arms, rotate your wrists, and straighten your back every 30 minutes to keep muscles flexible and relaxed.
Final Thoughts
Chiropractic care supports online gamers in more ways than one can imagine. Besides aligning the spine, chiropractic promotes blood circulation, enhances muscle flexibility, and strengthens tissues to clear the mind, alleviate pain, and ensure optimal range of motion. These benefits can take your online gaming adventures to greater heights.
