“What I tend to see is tendonitis in and around the hands and thumb, similar to carpal tunnel syndrome, from overuse of text messaging or playing handheld video games,” said Dr. Lora Harrison, medical director of urgent care at the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton.
A recent American Academy of Pediatrics study found that excessive gaming also can lead to depression, anxiety and poor grades.
The AAP recommends one hour of moderate exercise every day for children and adolescents. Instead, teenagers spend an average of 2.5 hours each day watching television, 40 minutes playing video games and 30 minutes on the computer.
In her previous role as a sports medicine physician at the University of Cincinnati, Harrison saw two or three cases per week of young people with injuries related to texting and handheld gaming devices.
“I think it is becoming more common as people are using more handheld devices,” she said.
“I would particularly see something called de Quervain’s (syndrome), a tendonitis of the thumb. I saw that fairly often.”
The painful inflammation of the tendons on the thumb side of the wrist also is known as “gamer’s thumb.”
The condition is caused by repetitive use of the hand or wrist, and can cause discomfort when a patient turns their wrist, grasps something or makes a fist.
Tendons connect muscle to bone, so overusing a certain muscle can cause wear and tear in the tendon.
“When you take a break it heals, but if they are not taking a break it won’t heal and the injury just builds on itself from day to day,” Harrison said.
Children’s growth plates also are susceptible to repetitive stress injuries from both gaming and playing actual sports. Growth plate injuries to children’s knees are common and typically they outgrow it. However, injuries to elbows are more damaging and “can cause lifelong problems,” Harrison said.
Treatment typically includes a prescription anti-inflammatory medication, regular icing of the affected area, and immobilizing the joint when it is not required for use.
“If this doesn’t work it can progress on to needing occupational therapy and possibly injections with corticosteroids,” Harrison said.
Surgery may be required for some untreated repetitive stress injuries, but such measures are rare for gamers. Most of them will stop once they reach a point where nothing else works, Harrison said.
The two-year AAP study found that 8.5 percent of young U.S. gamers were classified as “pathological” gamers, commonly called video game addiction.
Children and teens who played more video games and who had lower social competence and greater impulsiveness were at higher risk of becoming pathological gamers, the study said.
The authors identified depression, anxiety, social phobias and lower school performance as likely outcomes of problem gaming.
Two separate AAP studies found both benefits and risks of injury from interactive gaming devices such as the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 Kinect and PlayStation Move.
One study found that 30 minutes of Wii boxing and both basic and intermediate “Dance Dance Revolution” game play resulted in energy expenditure similar to or greater than moderate intensity walking at 2.6 to 3.5 mph.
“The energy expended during exergaming and during walking was significantly higher than that when patients rested comfortably watching a non-violent television show,” the study said.
However, another AAP study linked interactive video games to more abrasions and injuries of the shoulder, ankle and foot than traditional gaming devices.
Children younger than 10 should be supervised while video games are being played to prevent bystander injuries, which are more common with interactive games, the study said.
“I think games that get you up and active are very good as long as you are not doing the same repetitive motion all the time,” Harrison said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2419 or dlarsen@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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