Cts!!!

[BlackPanther]

So I've been developing carpal tunnel syndrome from playing such a techy *** fox and I'm paying for it -_-. So the question is, has anyone have any problems remotely close to cts and do you have any advice or any thing I can do to help alleviate the uncomfortable feeling from playing that doesn't involve "Just quit" or somethin like that lol?

 

[dmac]

if this is occurring specifically because of your playing, its probably something like repetitive strain injury, not carpal tunnel. CTS is gene related, and you'd be experiencing that type of pain without activity.

where is the pain located, specificallly? what is the intensity of your pain? what does it limit you from doing?

what are your current practice sessions like? how often are you having them? what are other occasions where you play smash for extended periods of time and how often do you do them?

figure out the answers and then go see a doctor if you can

 

[Lovage 805]

i used to get really bad wrist pain if i played for 3+ hours a day so now im slowing down and playing wow LOL

 

[BlackPanther]

Well maybe it isn't carpal tunnel syndrome and I could go 12 hours without feeling anything except in the wrist which isn't the problem I'm having. The problem I'm having mainly is my thumb being hella unresponsive and when I move it in certain positions, it tends to want to stay that way like when I lift it up to get ready to flick the c stick or press a button, it wants to stay up in that lifted position so it's a lot slower.

 

[MikeHaggarTHAKJB]

i have that stiffness problem aswell. what I do is to try and move my thumbs as little as possible. Hitting the c-stick with the middle part of the thumb helps alot. It also makes you faster.
But if you're experiencing pain you should see a doctor.

 

[FastFox]

Try wrapping a 5 pound ice-pack around your hand next time you play.

 

[Shai Hulud]

I have this problem a lot, sometimes pretty severe. I'm not sure if it's carpel tunnel or just repetitive strain injury but I frequently injure my hands and wrists if I play too much. I had to quit for about a month one time because I hurt my wrist.Playing a technical Fox makes injury more likely especially if you claw. There's not really a lot you can do except make sure you don't play too much. Sometimes this isn't realistic though, like at tournaments. My hands are always killing me well before the tournament is over. I've started playing some other characters that are easier on the hands (Marth, Sheik) and I'm going to try to limit my Fox playing at the next tourney I go to to see if it helps.

 

[soap]

ya play marth, do some utilts, its relaxing.

do u hold the controller some kinda weird style? which hand hurts + which trigger finger do u use? i switched from R to L cuz pressing R all day wore out my right hand. plus using the middle part of the thumb for joystick and cstick makes things easier too.

 

[RaynEX]

play Jiggs. All your hand problems disappear.

 

[Lovage 805]

socal lingo: when u play for like 30 hours in a weekend and ur hand feels like its on fire internally we call that mango status lol

 

[soap]

my left forearm was sore after FC, **** was ridiculous

 

[Cosmo!]

ya play marth, do some utilts, its relaxing.

quoted for future sig use

 

[BlackPanther]

The problem with me is I try to play every character as technical as I can so my only solution is to not play Melee for a while. But even if I play relatively relaxing, I still feel it. And I play using the standard position, no claw or anything like that. All I know is, it is very upsetting to do things and it doesn't work or it's a lot slower =(.

 

[Da Shuffla]

Take a break from it if it gets painful. Hot bath works to relieve muscle pain (I say bath because you don't want to sit there with only your hands in hot water). I've had pain in my hands before, but nothing too serious.

 

[RaynEX]

Is the pain THAT bad? Also, what are the symptoms of cts anyways? How do you know when you actually have it?

 

[BlackPanther]

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, click that link from wiki. Upon reading it more carefully I've concluded that I don't have carpal tunnel syndrome but somethin not as severe but severe enough to affect my playing. I also feel the same thing when I type and it's not really a pain kind of thing just uncomfortable as I said before. I'll probably try the ice pack like FastFox said and the bath(despite hating baths) like Da shuffla said.

One thing I don't get though is why this happened all at once. Back in June or whenever that Georgia tourney was, I didn't feel a thing I just sucked from not practicing. But a a few months later I start to feel it and now it's to the point where I feel like quitting. And can't go see a doctor because I just don't have the money for it so I'm essentially stuck between a rock and a hard place, but I'm gonna try out some of these suggestions from you guys so thank you.

 

[soap]

my thumbs + index finger joints hurt feel weird in the cold. it might be the winter ****ing with your overused fingers. buy some top notch gloves and handwarmers

 

[RaynEX]

Yea soap has the right idea. I'm so ****ing happy Canada has free health-care.

 

[Shai Hulud]

Is the pain THAT bad? Also, what are the symptoms of cts anyways? How do you know when you actually have it?

Main symptoms are numbness and muscle weakness in the hand, particularly the thumb, sometimes also the index and middle finger.

It's hard to tell if you have carpel tunnel or just a repetitive strain injury. Carpel tunnel is a result of pinching a nerve, whereas repetitive strain injury would be damage to the muscle tissue. I think generally carpel tunnel is perceived more as numbness, weakness, and inability to grasp / operate things with your fingers, whereas repetitive strain is perceived as weakness and physical pain. Either way you really need to stop playing until the pain / weakness goes away or else it's going to get worse.

BlackPanther you really should stop playing until the problem corrects itself. Also you should limit things like typing and writing, don't sleep with your wrists bent, etc. If you keep playing Smash with carpel tunnel or repetitive strain you are likely to give yourself a more serious, long-lasting injury. Just stop playing for a couple weeks (it may take even less time if the injury is minor) to a month. And after that, take it easy with how much you play. I had to stop playing for about a month due either to carpel tunnel or repetitive strain, and after that I just made sure I didn't play too much. In situations where you have to play for many hours straight (i.e., tournaments) pick up a character that's easier on the hands and play that character at least half the time.

 

[BlackPanther]

Yea soap has the right idea. I'm so ****ing happy Canada has free health-care.

Can I live with you in Canada, black folks get along nicely =)?

 

[MikeHaggarTHAKJB]

Stop playing for a little while (a week or two) and then start training the MUSCLES of your fingers in other ways then playing video-games (that actually feels good for the fingers)
i had did have lots of pain for a short while actually (just after I started playing competetively and being technical and stuff). when i started focusing on using my hands in ways that didn't hurt (move the hands as little as possible) and training the actual muscles of my fingers helped
AFTER having stopped playing for 2 weeks (cuz i went to thailand lol)

 

[RaynEX]

Hope you get better Panther. We need those hands for hungryboxing. Btw..Mike are ever going to come to a big tourny in north america?

 

[MikeHaggarTHAKJB]

Most likely not, I'm not even that good + america is pretty **** far away
Altho, I travel alot with my family (ive been to the us twice and canada once :O). If I go somewhere in the US or canada anytime relatively soon I'll bring my controller

 

[soap]

Can I live with you in Canada, black folks get along nicely =)?

Dont jump ship yet, Obama will hook us up.

 

[BlackPanther]

Haha hopefully. Anyways thanks for the advice guys I'll try not to give up so easily and try some of the things you guys recommended.

 

[Shai Hulud]

I went to a tournament last weekend and by the end of the day my hands were in severe pain. I think I'm going to pick up Jiggs as a secondary =\