Musculoskeletal disorders and video games?

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) affect not only the workers who load heavily some of their many joints. They can also be induced or facilitated by trauma, by inappropriate positions by stressful situations or by intense activity with game consoles.

A recent U.S. study showed that one of five video gamers complains of regular pain in the fingers, wrists or elbows. The cause may be multidirectional joysticks and other controllers which are used for too long.

Directed at children aged 7 to 12 years under the auspices of the American College of Rheumatology, this work highlights an unsurprisingly direct relationship between duration of use and painful symptoms. And it makes no difference whether it is a desktop console (Wii, PS3) or a portable game such as Nintendo DS, PSP or even the inevitable iPhone.

Wii fans sometimes get a true "tennis elbow" - a painful inflammation of the elbow caused by exertion in playing tennis and similar games.

Specialists warn that joints and tendons can suffer from overuse. The hyperutilization is caused not only by various excessive sport activities. It is much more about daily activities, like video games.

What about young children? Are they affected? "A child playing on his console uses the same string tendon-muscle continuously,"  say the specialists. Unlike adults, overuse of training will lead to cartilage growth more than the muscles or joints.

Parents should be vigilant, especially if their child plays for an hour or more a day. If a child complains of pain, you must remove the console for at least a week for the body would have some time to rest. If pain persists, consult, your family doctor. But if only a microdamage is detected, the console will be banned for several months.

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